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"John Brown's Body" (Roud 771), originally known as "John Brown's Song", is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The song arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. According to an ...
While the lyrics to "John Brown" are original, the melody is based on "900 Miles", a well-known song in the US folk music community; [a] about half of that tune is also found in the traditional song "Reuben's Train". [4] When the song was published in Broadside magazine in March 1963, an accompanying note read "Tune, much like '900 Miles'." [5]
John Brown's Body (1928) is an American epic poem written by Stephen Vincent Benét. The poem's title references the radical abolitionist John Brown, who raided the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in October 1859. He was captured and hanged later that year. Benét's poem covers the history of the American Civil War.
The tune and some of the lyrics of "John Brown’s Body" came from a much older folk hymn called "Say, Brothers will you Meet Us", also known as "Glory Hallelujah", which has been developed in the oral hymn tradition of revivalist camp meetings of the late 1700s, though it was first published in the early 1800s.
It is sung to the tune of "John Brown's Body" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Although it was written as a song for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), other union movements, such as the AFL–CIO, have adopted the song as their own. The song has been performed by musicians such as Utah Phillips, Pete Seeger, and John Darnielle.
"A Yankee Song" (The Charlotte Democrat, Charlotte, N.C., December 23, 1862)"Oh we'll hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree" (and similar) is a variant of the American folk song "John Brown's Body" that was sung by the United States military, Unionist civilians, and freedmen during and after the American Civil War.
[1] The song's lyrics are attributed to the regiment's white officer, Captain Lindley Miller. An almost identical song, "The Valiant Soldiers," is attributed to Sojourner Truth in post-Civil War editions of her Narrative. Recent scholarship supports Miller as the original author, or at least compiler, of the song. [2]
Supposedly, in 1859, Bishop visited Harper's Ferry after John Brown's raid and wrote new verses to his "Army of the Lord" song, one of which was "John Brown's body lies a moulderin' in the grave." He later claimed to have written the words and music for "Kitty Wells," "Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me," and the tune for "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."