Tune of the Day: Lorena
During the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides of the conflict thought of their wives and girlfriends back home when they heard the song “Lorena”. One Confederate officer even attributed the South's defeat to the song. He reasoned that upon hearing the mournful ballad the soldiers grew so homesick that they lost their effectiveness as a fighting force.
Oh, the years creep slowly by, Lorena,
The snow is on the ground again.
The sun's low down the sky, Lorena,
The frost gleams where the flow'rs have been.
But the heart beats on as warmly now,
As when the summer days were nigh.
Oh, the sun can never dip so low
A-down affection's cloudless sky.
The lyrics, written by Rev. Henry D. L. Webster, and the music, by composer Joseph Philbrick Webster, were first published in Chicago in 1857.
Thanks to Breck for suggesting this tune!