By: Hunter Christian
Walk that dirt road young soldier in gray,
detached you\'ve become from your regiment
Seek her jasmine sent, her magnolia smile,
She\'s waiting for you beyond that fateful mile
“To hold you, is to disarm my defenses
To kiss you, is to warm my senses
To forgive you, is to mend broken fences
To write you, in words of myriad tenses”
Stand tall southern son
Bask mightily in a southern sun
Bask lovingly in the love you\'ve won
Stand tall now, the war is one
“You were but a girl, and I but a boy
You were but a dream, and I but a blink of your eyes
You were the one, and I came undone
As you became but a memory, and I a passing glance
To dance, to dance, to dance”
Boy, girl; woman, man
Fan her affectionately with her Chinese fan
Hear the solemnity in your regiment’s band,
tinged softly with a Tennessee brand
“Come dance with me my dream girl
Come let me set you upon a twirl
Come twirl, and whirl, and curl
Your petite limbs around my limbs
Come be my girl, my world, our world”
Smoky are the mountains the generations claim
To you and she, it\'s one and the same
When lions and men betwixt to tame
One if naught the other in the \'dangerous game’
“Bechance you tossed fate a line,
and may you vow without shame:
‘Bechance this boy be mine’
Without vanity, doubt, nor shame
In time, in time, in time
Flicker does the flame
Yes, God sent this boy a sign”
Reconstruction by way of deconstruction
Yankee valor may sour instruction
Yet, southern values remain in song
Hear the horns and strings all the day long
“O’ my dream girl, may I have this dance?
Unwrapped this boy bechanced
To forevermore I’ll cherish this wild romance
But, for now, may this Yankee traitor please have this dance?”