Lyr/Chords ADD: Lorena ^^^

Subject: Chords for Lorena
From: Bob Taylor
Date: 25 Oct 99 - 08:03 PM

Greetings,

One of my antecedents was a young soldier in the American Civil War. I have his diary, and other papers which I have been asked to share with some local Boy Scouts. I thought it might be nice to sing and play the song Lorena for the boys. I have found may sites that offer the lyrics (including our own beloved Mudcat) and even MIDI files, but I have not yet been able to find music showing guitar chords. I have tried to figure them out on my own with limited success. The opening in the key of G is pretty straight forward, but there is a section that goes to a minor key. I assume it opens with Em, but after that I loose it. I am especially frustrated by the chord used to transition from the minor key back to G major. Does anyone have a chord sequence I could use? Thanks so much.

Subject: Chords Add: LORENA
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 25 Oct 99 - 08:25 PM

Here's how we do it:

Oh the (G) years creep slowly by, Lo(C)rena
The (D7)snow is on the ground a(G)gain
The sun flows down the sky, Lo(C)rena
The (D7) frost gleams where the flowers have (G)been

But the (Em) heart beats on as warmly (B7) now
As when the summer days were (Em) nigh (D7)

Oh the (G) sun can never dip so (C)low (Am)
To be (D7) down in affection's cloudless (G) sky.

Subject: Chords Add: LORENA
From: kendall
Date: 25 Oct 99 - 09:25 PM

when I recorded this for Folk Legacy I used this sequence:

G The years creep slowly by Lo C rena
the d snow is on the grass a G gain
the suns low down the sky Lo C rena..
the D frost gleams where the flowers have G been
But the Am heart beats on as warmly Bm now
as when the summer days were Am nigh
D oh... the G sun can never dip so C low
a D down affections cloudless G sky..

Subject: Lyr Add: LORENA (from Johnny Cash)
From: Gene
Date: 26 Oct 99 - 01:00 AM

Seems to be MANY VARIATIONS of this song...


LORENA
Writer: Charlie Williams
As recorded by Johnny Cash on "America: A 200-Year Salute in Story and Song" (Columbia KC 31645, 1972)

The years creep slowly by, Lorena.
Snow is on the grass again.
The sun is sinkin' low, Lorena.
Frost is where the flowers have been.

The music's sad and low, Lorena
Happy sounds have left the day
The banjos softly play, Lorena
Where once they rang so loud and gay.

I hardly feel the cold, Lorena.
I pray this darkness soon will pass.
We'll sing those songs again, Lorena.
You'll be in my arms at last.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Gene
Date: 26 Oct 99 - 01:18 AM

* variations at Levy *

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Bob Taylor
Date: 26 Oct 99 - 10:32 PM

Thanks very much for the help. I'll try all the combinations and see what sounds the best. Thanks again. I knew I could count on the Mudcat crew....

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: kendall
Date: 27 Oct 99 - 12:51 PM

I first heard this from the singing of Tennessee Ernie Ford back in the early 60's. Then a friend gave me an old book of songs, and there she was. 'Course, Enie didn't sing all the verses.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From:
Date: 28 Oct 99 - 12:26 PM

Thanks, I was looking for this too.

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: LORENA
From: Genie
Date: 10 Sep 02 - 07:21 PM

Taking the tune from the sheet music I got at the Levy site, I came up with this chord progression:

LORENA
Poetry by M. Q.* A, Webster; Music by J. F. Webster

          G                     G7     C                 D       D7        C        G        D
The years creep slowly by, Lorena. / The snow is on the grass again;
        G                         G7      C                D               D7                              G
The sun's low down the sky, Lorena,/ the frost gleams where the flow'rs have been.
             Em                                  Bm(7)       D     Em              A7           D7
But the heart throbs on as warmly now, /as when the summer days were nigh;
              G                  G7      C  Am       D7                                   G
Oh, the sun can never dip so low    /  a-down affection's cloudless sky.
              G         G7               C  Am       D       D7                        G
Oh, the sun can never dip so low   /  a-down affection's cloudless sky.
 

If I were to  strum it, those would be the chords; the way I play it, I'm doing melody runs while fingerpicking from those chords as a base.  (So on the word "grass" in the first line, I actually pick only a single note, not the whole chord).

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Genie
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 01:46 AM

Correction:
The sheet music I had, after being downloaded from Levy and then printed, was kind of fuzzy. The lyrics were written by H. D. L. Webster, not M. Q. A. Webster (not related to the Webster who composed the music.).

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: masato sakurai
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 03:23 AM

Another correction: music by J.P. Webster. Other editions at the Duke collection are easier to read.

Lorena

Lorena (The names are too large, aren't they?)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: GUEST,Genie
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 03:39 PM

Thanks, Masato. I didn't catch that one.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: GUEST,Edd H.
Date: 21 Apr 04 - 11:38 PM

I'm trying to find out the origins of the Carter Family's "No More the Moon Shines on Lorena." I know it was called "Way Down in Alabama" at some point before the Carters recorded it in 1930. The meter of "Lorena" is pretty close to that of "No More the Moon Shines on Lorena," but somewhere along the way it became a song about slavery...can anyone point in the direction of material that covers the transformation (if indeed "Lorena" is the origin of "Way Down" and "No More the Moon") of this into the song the Carter Family recorded?

Thanks!

Edd

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Apr 04 - 12:04 AM

According to the Traditional Ballad Index, in the original poem by the Rev. Henry deLafayette Webster, the girl was Bertha, but when Joseph Philbrick Webster set it to music, the name was changed to Lorena because a three-syllable name was needed.
I haven't found the original poem yet.

"Way Down in Alabama" has many faces. It may be a folk revision of Lorena (I presume you mean the Smyth County Ramblers version), but several songs take that name or have that line and similar subject. Perhaps related to the blackface "Ma Angeline" or the minstrel song "The Gal with de Blue Dress On" (see American Memory) etc.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Apr 04 - 12:05 AM

I should have added that the Bertha of the original poem was black.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Chris in Wheaton
Date: 22 Apr 04 - 11:42 AM

Lorena was in the original Old Town School of Folk Music book, so it has been sung in the folk community for some time - the book with chords may still be for sale. Nice book if you can get it.
I think the best version is by John Harford. I had an even better version that John did with Peter O on PHC, but I seem to have lost the tape in moving.
Was it true that Lorena was banned in Union and Confederate camps, because it resulted in increased desertions?
When I do Lorena, I say that it will be part of a 50's medley - it gets a good laugh when I say it was written is 1850 whatever.
Great work as always, guys.
Chris in Wheaton

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Chris in Wheaton
Date: 22 Apr 04 - 11:45 AM

Forgot to say - I think it sounds better in D
Chris

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Chords for Lorena
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Apr 04 - 01:18 PM

Versions of "No More..." and "The Old Plantation in thread 32054: Ol' Plantation

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Lorena
From: GUEST,more lyrics for Lorena
Date: 14 Jul 14 - 09:05 AM

I play it in G pretty much as the post below. I learned it from Bobby Horton's Songs of the Civil War Series. Used to be available on cassette probably cd or download now but Spotify has him if not. Lots of Tenessee Ernie Ford's songs seem to have the same sources so I guess Bobby got them from him in some cases. He's a great resource for songs of this period.

I read somewhere that this song was banned from being played around the fire in some companies because it was known to cause homesick soldiers to Skeedaddle (go awol and head for home).

Here are the lyrics I know:

"Lorena"

The years creep slowly by, Lorena
The snow is on the grass again
The sun's low down the sky, Lorena
The frost gleams where the flowers have been
But the heart throbs 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.

A hundred months have passed, Lorena
Since last I held that hand in mine
And felt the pulse beat fast, Lorena
Though mine beat 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 loving prospered well
But then, 'tis past, the years have gone
I'll not call up their shadowy forms
I'll say to them, "Lost years, sleep on
Sleep on, nor heed life's pelting storms."

The story of the 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 are within my memory yet
They touched some tender chords, Lorena
Which thrill and tremble with regret
'Twas not the woman's heart which spoke
Thy heart was always true to me
A duty stern and piercing broke
The tie which linked my soul with thee.

It matters little now, Lorena
The past is in the eternal past
Our hearts 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 there, up there, 'tis heart to heart.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Lorena
From: GUEST,threelegsoman
Date: 15 Jul 14 - 02:32 AM

I uploaded my version of this song in November last year and as with all my songs I include both lyrics and chords:

Lorena (Including lyrics and chords)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Lorena
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 15 Jul 14 - 04:17 AM

it was mentioned in the ken burns documentary series.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Lorena
From: GUEST,Beachcomber
Date: 26 May 21 - 04:42 AM

The version by Michael T. Murphy and friends is a real tear jerker, beautifully performed.