(Spoken Intro: You know, everything that's ever been written about the Civil War, they wrote about brother fightin' brother and father fightin' son, and nobody has ever really written a song about the ones that stayed behind, you know, like the women that lost their men. That's what this is about.)

Have you seen Amanda Blaine
In the hills of Shiloh...
Wandering through the morning rain
In the hills of Shiloh?
Have you seen her at her door
Listening for the cannon roar
And a man who went to war
From the hills of Shiloh?
Have you heard her mournful cries
In the hills of Shiloh?
Have you seen her haunted eyes
In the hills of Shiloh?
Have you seen her running down
Searching through the sleepy town
In her yellowed wedding gown
In the hills of Shiloh?

Have you seen her standing there
In the hills of Shiloh?
Wind a'blowing through her hair
In the hills of Shiloh
Listening for the sound of guns...
Listening for the roll of drums...
And a man who never comes
To the hills of Shiloh?

Have you heard Amanda sing
In the hills of Shiloh?
Whispering to her wedding ring
In the hills of Shiloh?
Hear her humming soft and low...
For Amanda doesn't know...
'Twas ended forty years ago
In the hills of Shiloh.


Lyrics submitted by knate15

In The Hills of Shiloh song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

3 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    Reaches the depths of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln what a horror.

    davecydellon July 03, 2019   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Forty years after the War ended would have been 1904. Amanda Blaine would have been probably in her early 60s or so by then,depending on how old she was when her man went away...since she still wore her(yellowed)wedding gown,she was likely recently married and very young,likely no more than 20. Can only imagine how many times real-life stories like these actually played out,on both sides.

    Smith472120on September 25, 2023   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Just a correction to the lyrics as printed.

    The verse that includes the lines ‘have you seen her running down searching through the sleepy town’ should read ‘sleeping town.’ There is a difference between ‘sleepy’ and ‘sleeping’. In the Judy Collins recording it is clear she says ‘sleeping’ not ‘sleepy’.

    Waverlydadon January 04, 2024   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.