Shiloh Hill

Performed by William Lee Golden, with Chris Golden on guitar and Jenee Fleenor on fiddle. Written by M.G. Smith

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10 comments… add one
  • London John May 16, 2012 @ 10:52

    Is there any reason to think this version is sung by a Confederate? I thought that ambiguity was rather the point.

  • Eric A. Jacobson May 16, 2012 @ 7:26

    The cemetery footage of Golden was actually shot in the McGavock Confederate Cemetery in Franklin. They were out last year and all the guys were really great.

  • Bjorn Skaptason May 16, 2012 @ 5:57

    I haven’t read it yet, but I like how the video is currently adjacent to the ad for Christian McWhirter’s “Battle Hymns.” Shiloh may well have inspired more non-history art than any other battle. I am looking forward to reading that book.

    Elton John doesn’t have any Gettysburg songs:-).

  • James F. Epperson May 16, 2012 @ 3:04

    But there aren’t any hills at Shiloh …

    • James Bain May 16, 2012 @ 4:10

      Walk along Riverside Dr. between the Cemetery and Dill Branch, and you’re liable to change your mind.

      I recently learned that’s the area referred to as Shiloh Hill.

      • James F. Epperson May 16, 2012 @ 4:57

        I’ve biked that route, so can attest to the elevation. Still wouldn’t call it a “hill”—it’s a ravine between two pieces of tableland. And there wasn’t much (if any) fighting there.

        • James Bain May 17, 2012 @ 8:18

          I agree with your geographic/topological description.
          But, “tableland cut by ravines” is nearly impossible to fit in poetic rhythm, let alone rhyme. 🙂

      • Ken Noe May 16, 2012 @ 4:59

        And I believe that’s more or less where Smith’s unit, the 2nd Texas, ended up. Jim Taylor sang an old East Tennessee version that converts the narrator into a Union soldier:

        “My uniform of blue was turned into a purple red
        When someone on a coming steed did sword me on the head
        I sent a bullet to his heart and as he fell away
        I saw the face of my dear father dressed in bloody gray”

        • James Bain May 16, 2012 @ 9:32

          So, plenty of poetic license in use. No surprise there…

    • London John May 17, 2012 @ 2:00

      Joan Baez recorded a song called “the Hills of Shiloh” in her typical style.

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