cd: The Civil War Anthology
track 6: Dear Mother (I’ll Not Be Home)
I don’t want to die in a Maryland churchyard, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
I’d rather end up in a Dixie graveyard, mother I’ll not be home
I can’t be rotting in Yankee prison, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
I lost my faith in the general’s vision, mother I’ll not be home
I watched brother and father both die and I know I’m next but I don’t know why
I dug their graves and I buried their bones, dear Mother I’ll not be home
Row by row in a blood-soaked meadow, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
Bide my time in the reaper’s shadow, mother I’ll not be home
Well they line boys up like they just don’t need them, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
Our heads hung low when left Antietam, mother I’ll not be home
Chorus
A small brigade of our friends and neighbors, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
Cut to shreds by the Union saber, mother I’ll not be home
We took our turn and we let them lead us, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
Well there’s no boys left so they can’t relieve us, mother I’ll not be home
Chorus
Well the guns went still in the lull of battle, oh dear mother I’ll not be home
Hear the wounded moan and the dead men rattle, mother I’ll not be home
Chorus
© 2011 All Rights Reserved
Dulahan Music
Written by Kyle Aughe