Certain songs have an ability to take you into memories that are still vivid, though you may not have thought of them at all. The song’s lyrics I’m posting tonight, reminded me of my boyhood interest in the Civil War and the Civil War trading cards called the Civil War News that we used to buy at the 7-11. We would stop and buy a package or two as we walked home from school. We would trade and talk about them. (I don’t think kids talk about the Civil War like they used to) Several of us walked around school with our hands or pockets full of them. I never was able to get the whole set, though I think a reissue is available now. I wish I had kept them for I think they would be valuable. Here is a good article about those cards. I’ve decided I’m going to obtain a set of those if I can, even if I can only get reproductions. You can find a site with two pages showing these cards here:
This is the card I most remember from the set:
Here are the song lyrics to “Mr. Confederate Man” by the group, Rebel Son. I hope to learn this song for my Civil War show. You can hear the song here. The Rebel Son website is here:
MR. CONFEDERATE MAN by Rebel Son
I was just a little boy
in elementary school
English and Math and Science class
learning the golden rules
I learned how to add and how to subtract
and how to multiply and divide
I learned about bugs and I learned about plants
and I learned how to read and write
but my most favorite class of all
was the last class of the day
when my history teacher would tell us tales
of old times long gone away
I was amazed at the way she knew all the people
and their names and the places and the dates
that’s when I first learned about General Lee
and his 13 rebel States
One day she came to school
with a big brown grocery bag
she opened up, we all helped her hold up
this great big “X” shaped flag
she said class
now only a fool will tell you
this flag is a symbol of hate
It represents the men who fought and died
with pride for our Confederate States
Your assignment tonight
I want you to write
I want you to pretend
that one of these brave men came back to life
now what would you say to him
Well the school bell rang
and I thought and I thought
as the bus carried me across town
I got out my pencil and my notebook pad
and this is what I wrote down
I wrote
Mr Confederate man
I’d like to shake your hand
for giving your life for Dixieland
Mr Confederate man
The next day in History class
I put my paper on the teachers desk
then she called me up in front of everyone
because she said she liked mine the best
as i walked up to the head of the class
my teacher smiled and she nodded at me
then I saw a tear roll down her cheek as I began to read
I read
Mr. Confederate man
I’d like to shake your hand
for giving your life for Dixieland
Mr Confederate man
Well I was at home reading through the news
just the other day
when I ran across my old teachers name
and I saw where she had passed away
with a bitter-sweet smile
I looked up at my wall
a wrinkled paper in a old wood frame
where underneath penciled words almost faded away
she had marked a grade big red “A”…..plus
Mr Confederate man
I’d like to shake your hand
for giving your life for Dixieland
Mr Confederate man
I wrote
Mr Confederate man
I’d like to shake your hand
for giving your life for Dixieland
Mr Confederate man