The melody of this song was borrowed from a pre-war minstrel tune, "Joe Bowers". The words are of a somewhat obscure origin; published in 1867, credit for the lyrics was given to one Major Innes Randolph, a Virginia Confederate and "cultivated Southerner of letters", who served under J.E.B. Stuart. A cultivated Southerner he may have been, but a more bitter, venomous statement of the emotions felt by many Confederate veterans following the surrender - and especially during Reconstruction years - would be hard to imagine. However, as humiliating as the Reconstruction was to most Southerners, the angry, hate-filled opinions expressed in the words of this song would almost certainly not have been shared by the majority of the military and political leadership of the Confederacy, nor by the vast majority of the rank and file. Overwhelmingly, most felt they had honorably acquitted themselves in a cause they believed in, and, having failed, returned peacefully to their homes and families, pledging themselves to honor and defend the very Constitution and Union they had fought so hard against. We have tried, in this presentation, to capture the emotion of that time. Few, then as now, would have embraced the sentiments expressed in this song. Ironically, the 1867 edition was dedicated to the radical Reconstructionist, the Honorable Thaddeus Stevens.
We perform “Good Old Rebel”, as a song, not a statement. We view it as a kind of historical ‘document’ in musical form, suitable for presentation to listeners in context at living history events - a Civil War reenactment, for example. Such events are rather like ‘performance art’. They are simulations, meant to convey to attendees the feeling and atmosphere of past conflicts, and are obviously not real. Reenactors are ‘playing a part’ as soldiers in a simulated battle. Our parts are as ‘camp musicians’ entertaining our listeners - in this video, our fellow reenactors. Innes Randolph’s lyrics are our ‘lines’ - not our sentiments or beliefs.
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