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"Battle Hymn Of The Republic" & "Dixie"- What Would You Teach Your Kid?
Actually I think both are pretty cool songs and my kid will know both. BHR is this incredibly strong , heartfelt song that even being raised in the South I was taught ,learned and loved- powerful. Dixie is, as the rebels were, more flamboyant and carefree and flat out a great tune.
The Battle Hymn is clearly one for the ages. Dixie is also a great tune, although originally a northern melody. I also stand up for Rally Round the Flag and Bonnie Blue Flag. There's no reason our children shouldn't love them all.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
My kids know more Civil War songs (from both sides) than they do "modern" songs. That was our traveling music when we went reenacting. (We have an 8-10 hour drive to an event of any size.) So they know a lot of Stephen Foster songs, minstrel songs like Dixie, and 1860s popular songs. They even know the verse of Dixie that talks about Will de Weeber!
While my son is approaching his 24th birthday and still listens to some stuff that hurts the left side of my head. Amazing enough when I drove his pickup for a couple of hours last week, I discovered some music I actually played for him on the way to school and baseball games for a few years. As many of you know, you can't always tell when young folks are listening. The trick is to give 'em some exposure to quality. The music of the 19th century certainly provides this in abundance. Young Grandson will certainly hear the full story as long as I can get his attention. The goal is to reach a young mind with the truth and an open outlook. They're smart enough to go from there. Dixie played with a moderately slow tempo sounds somewhat like a hymn. Take a listen to the soundtrack of the movie Gettysburg...
I have a fair sized collection of WBTS music and "Dixie" has to be my all time favorite. I probably have more than a dozen recordings by various artists (Lee Greenwood's is the best, IMO). My next two favorites are "Riding a Raid" and "Goober Peas".
I think our kids should be exposed to all of it.
Rose
__________________ "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names".--J.F.K.
The War Between the States established... This principle that the Federal Government is, through its courts, this final judge of its own powers.
-- Woodrow Wilson
My foot pats, keeping time to both "Dixie", and "Battle Cry of Freedom". And "Battle Hymn" and "Bonnie Blue Flag". It won't stop. Concrete blocks and bricks may stop my foot, but then my toes will move up and down inside my shoe. Whattaya gonna do?
Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
Last edited by william42 : 08-11-2006 at 12:10 PM.
They are both beautiful and symbolic... priceless treasures of our heritage. However, it is nearly impossible to find a full, high quality marching band version of "Dixie" anymore.
When I was in college, the band (the Dixie Redcoat Band), would play a stirring version of "Dixie"... made the hair on your arms stand straight up... We stood, removed our hats and placed our hands over our hearts.
But now you can't find it, or anything remotely like it, unless the recording sounds like it was made over the telephone.
It's "politically incorrect". Shame on us!
Hell, the band is now known as the Redcoat Band, dropping "Dixie" altogether. The shame... the shame.
Now if some segment of the population could get their panties wadded up over "Redcoat" as it would seem some could... we could just call them "the Band" and nobody could potentially be "offended".
Jkeith, yes, that PC stuff stinks to high heaven. It's gotten out of hand to the point of being ridiculous, the lengths some people will go to not offend. It's actually laughable at this point.
Where I live is very close to Kentucky, and when I was in high school, in the early '70's you could drive anywhere in town and hear "Dixie" played on car horns. Usually just the first line, you know, "Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton!". You'd be sitting in a long line of traffic somewhere, at a light or whatever, then somebody would hit their horn and you'd hear that tune. It's been years since I've heard that. It was fun to listen to, but I suppose it's out of style now. I don't know if that's a political correctness issue or just out of style. I wonder if you can still hear it on car horns in the south?
Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
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"Battle Hymn Of The Republic" & "Dixie"- What Would You Teach Your Kid? 
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