Bobby Horton：Old Abe Lies Sick
The song opens with hallucinations of OldLincoln falling seriously ill. It’s blunt and forceful, directly expressing theDixie folks’ hatred and deep resentment toward Lincoln. Through metaphor, it vividlydepicts Lincoln’s shamelessness and evil. The part where the Dixies wish forLincoln’s death further emphasizes their animosity, reflecting the author’spatriotic sentiment.
In the third stanza, the song usescontrast: the greatness of President Davis is set against Lincoln, Davis’ssteed against Lincoln’s march, deeply portraying Lincoln as foolish anduseless, while subtly highlighting Davis’s wisdom and… well, I can’t keepmaking this up. Honestly, this song is just “simpletrash-talking at its finest, pure enjoyment”—the classic “can’t beat them,so just roast them” type.
There’s no known author or specificcreation date; it’s clearly a folk song, but it often appeared in Confederatecamps. There’s not much to say about it—I laugh every time I listen. Themelody, however, is famous: The Girl ILeft Behind Me. This tune has a long history, tracing back to ElizabethanEngland. Like many English and American folk songs, it uses a tune called An Spailpín Fánach / A Wandering Laborer.Its exact origins are hard to trace, but its influence is huge—it’s well-knownand even pops up in shows like SpongeBobSquarePants. I plan to do The Girl ILeft Behind Me later as well; it’s also a military song.
As for the truly great President Lincoln,there’s no need to elaborate, he was a key architect of America. Without hiswise decisiveness in understanding the economic conflicts between the North andSouth, the U.S. as we know it wouldn’t exist. The Civil War was essentiallyAmerica’s real founding battle. Lincoln’s HomesteadAct and the Emancipation Proclamationwere strokes of genius and crucial to the North’s victory. Interestingly, whenLincoln first took office, he intended to pursue a conciliatory policy. Hedidn’t aim to free the slaves in a way that would destroy the Southerneconomy—but the South stubbornly insisted on secession. Honestly, the outbreakof war cannot really be blamed on Lincoln’s policies.
Theversion I originally had was supposed to be “With murder in his head,” but theother version, “And I wish that he was dead,” really captures the essence ofthe song, so I ended up mixing them. Honestly, it doesn’t matter much—those oldDixies liked changing lyrics anyway, so when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
