John Brown's Body - Battle Hymn of the Republic

from Memories From Gettysburg by Jeff Greenawalt

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about

Soldiers in the Army of the United States began singing the lyrics to John Brown's Body to the tune of a camp meeting song early in the Civil War. Abolitionist Julia Ward Howe heard them singing the song in the camps at Washington, D.C., as they prepared for war. Hearing the song inspired her to write her own lyrics to the same tune and the Battle Hymn of the Republic was born. The Gettysburg Compiler listed John Brown's Body as one of the songs that young ladies sang as General John Buford's cavalry rode into Gettysburg on June 30,1863. The Battle hymn of the Republic is my favorite song to come out of the Civil War since it states the cause of freedom for all so well. I just could not resist adding it to John Brown's Body.

lyrics

John Brown's Body

John Brown's Body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
John Brown's Body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
John Brown's Body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
But his soul is marching on.

Chorus:

Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on.

He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
But his soul is marching on.

Chorus


Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory pf the coming of the Lord:
He has trampled out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Chorus:
Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an alter in the evening dews and damps;
I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

Chorus

I have read a fiery gospel forged in burnished rows of steel:
As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the hero born of woman crush the serpent with his heal,
Since God is marching on.

Chorus

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgement seat:
Oh! be swift, my soul to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Chorus

In the beauty of the lillies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

credits

from Memories From Gettysburg, released June 17, 2022
This recording was made using some orchestral samples recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The Library of Congress provided the original sheet music I used to make this arrangement.

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all rights reserved

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about

Jeff Greenawalt image

Jeff Greenawalt Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Three of my great passions are acting, music, and history. Being retired from a real job gives me the time to pursue them full-time. I managed to combine all three through performing living history and period music. My under-graduate degree is in theater arts. While pursuing a career in health care administration, I managed to also study guitar and voice. I hope you enjoy the result! ... more

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