"Soldier's Joy" is a
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
tune, classified as a reel or country dance.
It is popular in the
American fiddle
American fiddle-playing began with the early European settlers, who found that the small ''viol'' family of instruments were more portable and rugged than other instruments of the period. According to Ron Yule, "Cheatham Annex#Utiemaria (1630-164 ...
canon, in which it is touted as "an American classic"
but traces its origin to
Scottish fiddling
Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strat ...
traditions.
It has been played in Scotland for over 200 years, and Robert Burns used it for the first song of his cantata 'The Jolly Beggars'.
According to documentation at the United States Library of Congress,
it is "one of the oldest and most widely distributed tunes"
and is rated in the top ten most-played
old time fiddle tunes. The tune dates as early as the 1760s.
In spite of its upbeat tempo and catchy melody, the term "soldier's joy" has a much darker meaning than is portrayed by the tune. This term eventually came to refer to the combination of whiskey, beer, and morphine used by
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
soldiers to alleviate pain.
Score
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\new ChordNames \chordmode
\new Staff \relative c''
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Melody as basis for song
Like many pure tunes with ancient pedigree, the melody of Soldier's Joy has been used as a basis for construction of songs, which, unlike pure tunes, have lyrics.
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
wrote lyrics for the tune in which a dismembered, homeless veteran sarcastically recounts his delight with battle.
Civil War era and post-bellum cultural references
The tune came to represent substance use to alleviate pain during the Civil War.
[ This is corroborated in concurring secondary sources.
The IHIC version is as follows:
]
Country
See also
* Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...
* Skillet Lickers
The Skillet Lickers were an old-time band from Georgia, United States.
When Gid Tanner teamed up with blind guitarist Riley Puckett and signed to Columbia in 1924, they created the label's earliest so-called "hillbilly" recording. Gid Tanne ...
* Banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
* Appalachian music
Appalachian music is the music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. Traditional Appalachian music is derived from various influences, including the ballads, hymns and fiddle music of the British Isles (particularly Scotland), ...
* Sam Stone (song)
"Sam Stone" is a song written by John Prine about a drug-addicted veteran with a Purple Heart and his death by overdose. It appeared on Prine's eponymous 1971 debut album. The song was originally titled "Great Society Conflict Veteran's Blues".
...
References
External links
* Jeff Todd Titon's ''Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes'' (University of Kentucky Press)
Digital Library of Appalachia
provides online access to archival and historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. The contents of the DLA are drawn from special collections of Appalachian College Association member libraries.
1929 Skillet Lickers film clip
with commentary
Henry Reed
Library of Congress mp3
*
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Bluegrass songs
American folk songs
Songs about the military
Songs about alcohol
Songs about soldiers
Performing arts pages with videographic documentation
Old-time music
Songs with lyrics by Robert Burns