"I heard you sing a rebel song
Sung it loud and all alone
We can't afford the things you say
We can't afford the warranty
Well I see you walking in the glare
Down the county road we share
Our southern blood my heresy
Damn that old confederacy"
// This part of the song seems to take place in the present day, with the singer speaking to someone whom she has encountered promoting the Civil War. (It suggests that the person was singing "a rebel song" but this understanding could obviously be expanded to include the display of the Confederate flag or any numer of other gestures of sympathy. The singer upbraids the person for celebrating a shameful past which she herself shares ("our heresy"). She feels that society can't afford to have the divisions that making such distinctions would cause. //
"It took a
Long time to
Become the thing
I am to you
And you won't
Tear it apart
Without a fight
Without a heart"
// This almost sounds as if it is the voice of the nation speaking both in the present and the past to those who feel similarly to the person described above. Essentially, the argument is that the nation has taken pains to get to where it is today and it won't allow itself to be torn apart -- either in the past, by Civil War or in the present by racial conflicts -- because that would defeat everything that history has been leading to. //
"I'm sorry for what you've learned
When you feel the tables turned
To run so hard in your race
Now you found who set the pace
The landed aristocracy
Exploiting all your enmity
All your Daddies fought in vain
Leave you with the mark of Cain"
// This is a reference to the Civil War itself and the nature of how it was fought. The singer argues the view that it was the wealthy plantation owners who got the poor citizens to fight their war for them, and that it was these poor soldiers who both bore the brunt of the violence and also took the shame of the affair once it was over ("the mark of Cain"). She acknowledges that they did desire to fight the war, but that this desire was cultivated by those in power ("exploiting all your enmity"). //
"[chorus]
It took a
Long time to
Become you
Become you"
// This slight change in the ending of the chorus signals that, although they have been separated out for the purposes of the song, everyone who is a part of the American nation also makes up that nation. The singer acknowledges that it has taken a long time for the nation to become what it is -- to, in a sense, become the person being described. //
"The center holds so they say
It never held too well for me
I won't stop short of common ground
That vilifies the trodden down
I won't stop.
The center held the bonded slave
For the sake of industry
The center held the bloody hand
Of the execution man."
// The singer implicates not only those who physically fought in the Civil War, but also the nation's insatiable desire for labor which brought slavery to its peak and caused "the execution man" to bring war to the United States.
Essentially this is a song of contrition for the Civil War, and the continued passion which many Southerners feel for it, despite the often necessarily racist overtones of such situations. However, it also seeks to find a broader base for why slavery arose at all and spreads the blame not to a geographically unique group of people, or even the descendents of those who fought on the "wrong" side of the Civil War, but instead on those who place the desire for profit above the value of human life and dignity. //
"I heard you sing a rebel song Sung it loud and all alone We can't afford the things you say We can't afford the warranty
Well I see you walking in the glare Down the county road we share Our southern blood my heresy Damn that old confederacy"
// This part of the song seems to take place in the present day, with the singer speaking to someone whom she has encountered promoting the Civil War. (It suggests that the person was singing "a rebel song" but this understanding could obviously be expanded to include the display of the Confederate flag or any numer of other gestures of sympathy. The singer upbraids the person for celebrating a shameful past which she herself shares ("our heresy"). She feels that society can't afford to have the divisions that making such distinctions would cause. //
"It took a Long time to Become the thing I am to you And you won't Tear it apart Without a fight Without a heart"
// This almost sounds as if it is the voice of the nation speaking both in the present and the past to those who feel similarly to the person described above. Essentially, the argument is that the nation has taken pains to get to where it is today and it won't allow itself to be torn apart -- either in the past, by Civil War or in the present by racial conflicts -- because that would defeat everything that history has been leading to. //
"I'm sorry for what you've learned When you feel the tables turned To run so hard in your race Now you found who set the pace
The landed aristocracy Exploiting all your enmity All your Daddies fought in vain Leave you with the mark of Cain"
// This is a reference to the Civil War itself and the nature of how it was fought. The singer argues the view that it was the wealthy plantation owners who got the poor citizens to fight their war for them, and that it was these poor soldiers who both bore the brunt of the violence and also took the shame of the affair once it was over ("the mark of Cain"). She acknowledges that they did desire to fight the war, but that this desire was cultivated by those in power ("exploiting all your enmity"). //
"[chorus]
It took a Long time to Become you Become you"
// This slight change in the ending of the chorus signals that, although they have been separated out for the purposes of the song, everyone who is a part of the American nation also makes up that nation. The singer acknowledges that it has taken a long time for the nation to become what it is -- to, in a sense, become the person being described. //
"The center holds so they say It never held too well for me I won't stop short of common ground That vilifies the trodden down I won't stop.
The center held the bonded slave For the sake of industry The center held the bloody hand Of the execution man."
// The singer implicates not only those who physically fought in the Civil War, but also the nation's insatiable desire for labor which brought slavery to its peak and caused "the execution man" to bring war to the United States.
Essentially this is a song of contrition for the Civil War, and the continued passion which many Southerners feel for it, despite the often necessarily racist overtones of such situations. However, it also seeks to find a broader base for why slavery arose at all and spreads the blame not to a geographically unique group of people, or even the descendents of those who fought on the "wrong" side of the Civil War, but instead on those who place the desire for profit above the value of human life and dignity. //