About Me

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Lake Mathews (Perris), CA, United States
Born in Illinois, I grew up in Wilmette, a northern suburb of Chicago. I have one sibling, an older brother. I am married, for the 2nd time now, to Butch & got 4 children in the deal. They have gone on to make me grandmother 25 times over & great-grandmother to over 20!. After many years working in industry, I got my bachelors and masters degrees in speech communication, & was a professor in that field for 13 years. I retired in 2001 & returned to school & got my doctorate in folklore. Now I meld my two interests - folklore & genealogy - & add my teaching background, resulting in my current profession: speaker/author/entertainer of genealogically-related topics. I play many folk instruments, but my preference is guitar, which I have been playing since 1963. I write the "Aunty Jeff" column for the Informer, newsletter of the Jefferson County NY Gen. Soc. I work in partnership with Gena Philibert-Ortega & Sara Cochran as Genealogy Journeys® where we focus on educating folks about Social History. More about that: genaandjean.blogspot.com. More on our podcasts: genjourneys.podbean.com. More about my own projects: Circlemending.org.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

SUNDAY SINGALONG: 4 July 2010 - Patriotic Songs


HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

So many 4th of July events include music in their festivities - I'll bet you have already discovered this, since we are celebrating America's Independence all this weekend. Most of us have a favorite song (I won't list any here, other than my own personal favorite, leaving many for you to choose from), so this Sunday Singalong (and it's fine to post after this date, too) is dedicated to the freedoms we have in our country as well as the patriotic songs of other nations (I have some non-Americans who read this blog, so feel free to share your country's anthems or patriotic lyrics, even if they aren't in English).

Independence has been won on various levels and by different groups throughout our nation's history, so I am going to suggest the anti-slave song "Oh, Freedom" as my "offering" for today's singalong:

Oh, Freedom! Oh, Freedom!
Oh, Freedom over me
And before I'd be a slave, I'd be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free (saved)!

A more complete listing of verses is on Wikipedia, along with a history of this song (though, sadly, not well-documented). One of the first people I heard sing this was Joan Baez, who performed it in Washington on the famous march in 1963 (my friend, the late Pernell Roberts, reminisced about this concert during one of our last visits - she certainly got the crowd singing along at this event in our nation's history). A video of a more recent version of Joan's singing this can be found on YouTube.

Have a safe and pleasant Independence day, all, and don't forget that this holiday was originated to celebrate our hard-fought freedom. I wish blessings on all our servicemen who continue to protect that element of our lives!

4 comments:

  1. I guess when I think of patriotic songs, I always go back to those we sang in church. And when I think patriotic song, the first to come to mind is The Battle Hym of The Republic written in 1861 by Julia Ward Howe:

    Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
    He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
    He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
    His truth is marching on.

    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    His truth is marching on.

    I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps
    They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps
    I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps
    His day is marching on.

    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    His truth is marching on.

    I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
    "As ye deal with my contemnors, so with you my grace shall deal;"
    Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
    Since God is marching on.

    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    His truth is marching on.

    He has sounded from the trumpet that shall never call retreat
    He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
    Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
    Our God is marching on.

    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    His truth is marching on.

    In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
    With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
    As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
    While God is marching on.

    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
    His truth is marching on.

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  2. Ah, Wonderful ... and you did the last verse as it was originally written, instead of altering the last line to be "let us live . . ." (considering the conditions under which it was written & intended to be sung, Julia Ward Howe knew exactly what she was writing about!). Thanks for that one!

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  3. I couldn't have been too old when I first watched the movie Pollyanna (it came out in 1960, the same year I was born) and I remember, very clearly, being struck by the power and beauty of the song that she sang at the fair. And I also remember how excited I was when I heard my father sing the same song in the car sometime later. I was amazed that he knew it and begged him to teach it to me.

    The song was America the Beautiful and I still find it very moving.

    Here's a link to the Pollyanna clip on YouTube:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkT5ji7Cc9o

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  4. When Johnny comes marching home again,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    We'll give him a hearty welcome then,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    The men will cheer, the boys will shout,
    The ladies they will all turn out
    And we'll all feel gay
    When Johnny comes marching home.

    The old church bell will peal with joy,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    To welcome home our darling boy,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    The village lads and lassies gay,
    With roses they will strew the way,
    And we'll all feel gay
    When Johnny comes marching home.

    Get ready for the Jubilee,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    We'll give the hero three times three,
    Hurrah! Hurrah!
    The laurel wreath is ready now,
    To place upon his loyal brow,
    And we'll all feel gay
    When Johnny comes marching home.

    --Patrick Gilmore (pseud. Louis Lambert), 1863

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