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!
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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:
ReplyDeleteMine 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.
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!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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
When Johnny comes marching home again,
ReplyDeleteHurrah! 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