Origins: Fanario (?)

Subject: Origins: Fanario (?)
From: GUEST,Michaelroy99
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 12:21 AM

I need some lore, some interpretation, and a lyrics check on the Civil War song, "Fanario," and even the spelling is suspect. I am doing a choral (and guitar / string band) medley of songs about the Civil War and I am including this song.

The meaning is vague as to the last verse, which (in part) I have as: "William, he is dead, and he died for that maid, and he's buried in the Louisianna Country-O." In that he has threatened in the previous verse to burn the city "and destroy all the ladies in the are-o," precisely how does Captain William "die" for the maid, Peggy-O? It would seem more apt that he never returned to make good his threat to punish the city and Peggy for her refusal of his marriage proposal, and that he merely died in battle. How then, does he die for her? Any illumination out there among the folk sages?

Subject: RE: Origins: Fanario (?)
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 12:46 AM

See the posts by Bruce Olson in this thread: Where's Fennario, and even better, go to his own info as linked by Malcolm Douglas at the end of that thread.

This is an American version of an older song from across the pond, of course; other versions may be more complete and provide some answers. I'll let you read through it all yerself. ;-)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: Fennario - Possible Symbolism
From: GUEST,Michaelroy99
Date: 06 Sep 06 - 03:11 AM

Thanks to Becky in Tucson for the comprehensive thread entitled "Where's Fennario." I've been singing the song since the '60s, when I heard Fred Neil, Ron Kickasola or Vince Martin (hard to remember which) do it at the Flick Coffee House in Miami, near the university.

The American version is obviously a Civil War allusion, with the "coat of blue" line and Louisiana connection. Back in those folk days I heard this interpretation: Fennario was a mythical place and a symbol of the last city that would have to fall before the war could be over and everyone go home. Thus, it was a symbol of victory for the North and a symbol of defeat for the South, and a shared symbol of war's end for both sides. The Northern soldiers are searching for that last city, Fennerio, a farewell to arms.

Captain William isn't a very nice guy, in that he predicates his supposed love and couchs his proposal of marriage to Peggy in terms of sparing the city: he can only think in martial terms, even in affairs of the heart. When spurned, he likewise can only invoke the language of war: to seek revenge with military action and burn the city, and destroy, not only Peggy, but all the ladies in the area.

I see no mention of this symbolism in the exhaustive "Where's Fennario" thread, so perhaps I am recalling a fanciful, and now moldy interpretation of a single performer. That kind of pseudo folklore happens all the time.