23 Feb 01 - 12:50 PM (#404602) Subject: Lyr Add: LORENA From: Rex EJ wanted chords to this but I figured maybe some of yous might want to see it. The words are in the DT of course, (don't look for songs without it!) but here are the chords. The chord for the end of the fifth line is "Am" as shown in Irwin Silber's fine work, the Songs of the Civil War. But I humbly suggest that the "D" chord seems to fit better to me. And I prefer "Bm" to "B7" at the start of the next line. So what do I know? -------------------------------------------------------A hundred months has passed, Lorena Since last I held that hand in mine. And felt the pulse beat fast, Lorena Though mine beats faster far than thine. A hundred months, 'twas flowery May When up the hilly slope we climbed. To watch the dying of the day And hear the distant church bells chime. We loved each other then, Lorena. More than we ever dared to tell. And what we might have been, Lorena, Had but our lovings prospered well. But then, 'tis part. The years are gone, I'll not call up their shadowy forms. I'll say to them, lost years, sleep on. Nor heed life's pelting storms. The story of that past, Lorena, Alas, I care not to repeat. The hopes that could not last, Lorena, They lived, but only lived to cheat. I would not cause e'en one regret To rankle in your bosom, now. For if we try, we may forget, Were words of thine long years ago. Yes, these were words of thine, Lorena. They burn within my memory, yet. They touched some tender chords, Lorena. Which thrill and tremble with regret. 'Twas not thy woman's heart that spoke. Thy heart was always true to me. A duty stern and pressing broke, The tie that linked my soul with thee. It matters little now, Lorena. The past is in the eternal past. Our heads will soon lie low, Lorena. Life's tide is ebbing out so fast. There is a future, Oh thank God. Of life, this is so small a part. Tis dust to dust beneath the sod. But then, up There is heart to heart. |
23 Feb 01 - 01:00 PM (#404611) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: kendall Thats an interesting chord sequence, (Em and B7th) Maybe I'm set in my ways but I still prefer Am and Bm. Lovely song anyway you do it. I heard a guy in Florida sing this with 3 chords..I ran screeming from the circle! |
23 Feb 01 - 01:04 PM (#404616) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Rex Ah me, you know the chords and words all lined up just fine when I typed them in a text file and then pasted them in. What's to become of me? Can anyone offer a suggestion of how to keep the spacing, etc. intact? I know, it's probably common knowledge and kept in one those permathreads. Rex (thoroughly whipped by a computer) |
23 Feb 01 - 01:34 PM (#404639) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Lonesome EJ Thanks Rex, a Gentleman and Scholar you are! |
23 Feb 01 - 11:31 PM (#405077) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Rex Aw, that's more than I deserve. What a jumble of words and chords. I'm still smarting from the whipping this computer gave me. If you can make sense of it, I guess I'll leave it that way. But I sure would like someone to tell me how to keep it as it was originally. Rex |
23 Feb 01 - 11:45 PM (#405089) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Sorcha It's still a heartbreaker of a song, after all these years. One of the few that will "get" me.......just think of all those poor boys longing for Home........and a little love. |
04 Sep 03 - 06:38 PM (#1012929) Subject: Lyr Add: LORENA (Webster & Webster, 1857) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Correction to last line given by REX: "But there, up there, 'tis heart to heart." 'Up there' italicized in sheet music. The DT is correct but authors not credited Also pointed out by Masato in thread 14713. Lyrics- Rev. H. D. L. Webster. Music, J. P. Webster. Sheet music 1857. Not to be confused with the song "Lorene," found in Texas along with Lorena; another song of parting. (First line, "The bright light was shining in heaven." Not to be confused with the slavery song of parting, "Lorena." Lyr. Add: LORENA 2 (Slavery) It was down upon the old plantation Where in youth ole master owned me as a slave There lived a colored girl, called Lorena An' we courted where the wild bananas wave O, the moon shown o'er my Lorena As we sat an' watched the possum playing in the corn An' the moon shown o'er the wild bananas An' the ole owl hooted like a horn. Chorus: O Lorena, dear Lorena, Won't you come, come, come again to me. O Lorena, dear Lorena, Won't you come, come, come again to me. For four long years we had courted An' had joined ourselves together both as one. By hard labor, ole master, we supported An' our happiness in life had just begun. Till one day, ole master sold my Lorena An' I thought this darkies heart would surely break For he sold her 'way down to ole Virginia An' left me to mourn for her sake. For two long years, we were parted But the thought of her was ever in my heart Till one day ole massa read me a letter Telling me my Lorena was dead Then I knew that her spirit gone on to heaven An' she never more would know this darkies pain. There's a bright and starry crown for her awaiting An' she never more shall wear a slavers chain. Sung in Real Audio in the Max Hunter Collection by Mrs. George Ripley, Milford, MO, 1959. A peculiar song. Echoes of other songs can be picked out. Relationship to the published Lorena of 1857? Lorena MFH #374. |
04 Sep 03 - 07:34 PM (#1012979) Subject: Lyr Add: LORENE (from William A. Owens) From: Q (Frank Staplin) Lyr. Add: LORENE The bright light was shining in heaven The stars were all twinkly and blue; The soft bonnie breeze of the twilight Reminds me, my dear one, of you. Last night as we parted in sorrow With heavy hearts hasting away, You promised, my darling, to meet me To give me your answer today. Chorus: Give me your answer, Lorene, today; Say you'll be mine, love, Don't turn away. You are my angel, my star, my queen; Give me your answer Today, sweet Lorene. They say that you'll go to some city, Where beloved ones you're seeking to find; With the rich and the gay you will mingle And the friends you are leaving behind. You know that you promised me, darling, That you would soon make my life joy; Come look in my eyes for this moment And give me your answer today. William A. Owens, 1950, "Texas Folk Songs," pp. 186-188, with sheet music. Coll. from Mayme Finch, Texas. "I had known "Lorene" a long time as a fiddle tune, but the first and only time I found all the words to it was when mayme Finch sang it for me." The music (3/4) is reminiscent of "I'll Never See Blue Eyes Again." (Out of the barroom he staggered, etc.) |
04 Sep 03 - 09:25 PM (#1013030) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Midchuck The bytes go creeping by, Eudora The net has broken down again. I'll get my mail today, Eudora, But I'll be damned if I know when For the screen fills in as slowly now, As when I was on AOL. But with the mail that's coming in now I think it may be just as well. The spam comes pouring in, Eudora; A never-ending siren's song. If all of it were true, Eudora, I'd have a Thing 12 meters long. They sell you stocks and bonds and girls, And boys, and condos by the sea. I don't know where they got my address, But like some old drunk, they just won't leave me be. P. |
04 Sep 03 - 09:28 PM (#1013033) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: masato sakurai As for LORENA 2, the Carter Family recorded it in 1931 as "No More The Moon Shines On Lorena" [audio from Honkingduck]. According to Meade et al.'s Country Music Sources (p. 467), the original (words & music) was written by Louis Staab in 1889(?). |
04 Sep 03 - 10:53 PM (#1013065) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: masato sakurai A 1939 recording of "Lorena #2" (first line: "Way down on the old plantation") sung by John McCready is at California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties. Notes provided, however, are wrong: "This song, popular during the Civil War, is a version of 'Lorena' with words by Henry De Lafayette Webster and music by Joseph Philbrick Webster." |
04 Sep 03 - 11:30 PM (#1013091) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Q (Frank Staplin) On sheet music by Louis Staab, "Faust, Fantaisie de Concert, piano," he is listed as author of "Lorena," "Martha," "Ever of Thee," etc. University of North Carolina, sheet music list. www.lib.unc.edu/music/eam/ns10.htm: Sheet Music S Sheet music for Lorena (2) not found. |
04 Sep 03 - 11:37 PM (#1013096) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Q (Frank Staplin) Wrong page: sheet music S |
04 Sep 03 - 11:45 PM (#1013102) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: masato sakurai 'Lorrena' (= Lorena #2) by Karl and Harty [audio] is at The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites (click on "REQUESTS PAGE TWO"). This must be the Refro Valley Boys' "Loreena" (rec. 1932). |
04 Sep 03 - 11:58 PM (#1013110) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Q (Frank Staplin) Lorena (2) not in the 12 cd Clinch Mountain Collection, nor in the websites devoted to Carter Family lyrics. Noted that "Lorrena" was shipped to Louisiana in the Karl-Harty recording. |
05 Sep 03 - 09:08 AM (#1013293) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: GUEST,Pete Peterson Is nobody (other than myself) going to compliment Midchuck on a disgusting parody which my SO and I thoroughly enjoyed? AAAAAAAAAAK!! and all too true. . . and Q, it IS in the Carter Family collection, it's called No More the Moon Shines on Lorena, (recorded Nocvember 1930) the original was Victor 23523, and, as usual, copyright is in the name of A.P. Carter. As for me, I prefer the Blue Sky Boys version. . . |
05 Sep 03 - 01:42 PM (#1013459) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Inükshük One of the best Civil War stories I ever heard was about a skirmish at Ball's Drop in West Virginia. A bunch of rebels were rounded up and put in jail. All night they argued with their captors about the true and proper lyrics for "Lorena". |
05 Sep 03 - 07:36 PM (#1013631) Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Add: Lorena From: Q (Frank Staplin) Thanks, Pete, if titles have more than one word, I am challenged. The Carter version also appears in the Carter Family Songs website, with the extended title: No More Lorena The chorus 'O Lorena, dear Lorena' is left out, the second part of the first verse, slightly changed, serving that function. In both the Texas and Carter versions, I wonder where the wild bananas came from, since they are not native. Maybe Staab was a -yankee. Is the original by Louis Staab preserved anywhere- are there only folk versions left- or perhaps his song is a third Lorena. |