Yesterday we took a look at the state song of Maryland, "Maryland My Maryland" and its Civil War origins. Another state song whose origins are tied to the conflict is that of Virginia, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia". The song was written in 1878 by James A. Bland, who was an African American song writer who penned over 750 in his lifetime. The song is sung from the perspective of a former slave at a time where many former slaves were struggling to find work. The original version was "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" but Virginny was replaced with Virginia in 1940 when it became the state song.
Within the past two decades the song has been re-examined and criticized for what many perceive as a nostalgic view of slavery. Defenders of the song often claim that it is a statement on the hardships African Americans faced in the years after the war. Others believe that the song is emphasizing how bad it was after the war by suggesting that slavery was better. The matter was brought to the Virginia Senate and on January 28, 1997, the measure was passed to move Carry Me Back to Old Virginny to State Song Emeritus while a search for a new song could be conducted. At this time a new one has not yet been selected.
Carry Me back to Old Virginny
Written by James Bland
Carry me back to old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
There's where the old darkey's heart am long'd to go,
There's where I labored so hard for old massa,
Day after day in the field of yellow corn,
No place on earth do I love more sincerely
Than old Virginny, the state where I was born.
CHORUS
Carry me back to old Virginny,
There's where the cotton and the corn and tatoes grow,
There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime,
There's where this old darkey's heart am long'd to go.
Carry me back to old Virginny,
There let me live 'till I wither and decay,
Long by the old Dismal Swamp have I wandered,
There's where this old darke'ys life will pass away.
Massa and missis have long gone before me,
Soon we will meet on that bright and golden shore,
There we'll be happy and free from all sorrow,
There's where we'll meet and we'll never part no more.
-Professor Walter
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