Revolutionary War Songs
Revolutionary War Songs
Chester
(see below; also for music,
click here)
Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And Slav'ry clank her galling chains.
We fear them not, we trust in God.
New England's God forever reigns.
God Save the King
(click for music)
God save great George our King,
Long live our noble King,
God save the King.
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King.
Parting Glass
(Click here,
here , and here for slightly different/additional lyrics)
O' all
the comrades e'er I had,
They're sorry for my going away,
And all the sweethearts e'er I had,
They'd wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot,
That I should go and you should not,
I gently rise and softly call,
Good night, and joy be with you all.
Another version
Of all
the comrades that e'er I had,
They are sorry for my going away,
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had,
They would wish me one more day to stay,
But since it falls unto my lot,
That I should rise and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call,
Good night, and joy be with you all.
Chester: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Among the patriotic anthems sung during the American Revolutionary War, only Yankee Doodle was more popular than William Billings's Chester. Billings wrote the first version of the song for his 1770 songbook The New England Psalm Singer, and made improvements for the version in his The Singing Master's Assistant (1778). It is the latter version that is best known today.
"The curious title of the song reflects a common practice of Billings's day, in which tunes were labeled with (often arbitrarily chosen) place names. Billings's song evidently has little more to do with any particular town named Chester than his hymn tune Africa has to do with Africa. With identifiable names for compositions, performers could select different lyrics to sing with the music without creating confusion." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_%28song%29
More Revolutionary War Songs (midi)
Barry Lyndon -- British Grenadiers
Washington's March
Fife & Drum Library
Husbands must leave their
loving wives
And sprightly youths attend
Leave their sweethearts and risk their lives
Their country to defend.
-----
Here I
sit on Buttermilk Hill
Who can blame me, cry my fill?
And every tear would turn a mill,
Since Johnny has gone for a soldier.
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