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Poor Soldier

from Old​-​Time Songs by Martha Burns

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about

This Civil War song comes from Frank Proffitt, beloved singer, banjo player and instrument maker from north-western North Carolina. Proffitt, who died in 1965, had an enormous trove of songs that he learned from both neighbors and relations. This was one that came to him through his aunt, Nancy Prather.

Many songs passed down from the Civil War years focus on the ordeals and exploits of men in the field. For me, “Poor Soldier” is a home-front song about the woman narrator who sings it to us in first person. Separated from her partner and removed from news of the conflict, she gives vent to feelings of isolation, doubt and anxiety. Yet one more testimony to the anguish that war always brings.

Thanks go to Severn Savage, who, when I was hunting for traditional songs from the Civil War for a festival workshop, reminded me of this one.

lyrics

All out in the snow they are tonight,
Far away from kin and home.
Protect the ones who fight for the right,
And those who have gone on.

Poor soldier, hungry and cold.
Poor soldier, hungry and cold.

It’s well I recollect when he bid me farewell.
He went with head held high.
Away to fight for the stars and stripes,
Perhaps away to die.

Poor soldier….

I know not where they are tonight.
God alone only knows.
Keep them safe and sound from all harm.
Protect them from all foes.

Poor soldier….

credits

from Old​-​Time Songs, released October 13, 2021

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Martha Burns Washington, D.C.

Old-time American folk songs the old-time way.

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