Colter Wall – Johnny Boy's Bones lyrics

Colter Wall – Johnny Boy's Bones lyrics

[Intro]
Well I wish I was in the land of cotton
Old times they are not forgotten
Look away, look away, look away
Dixieland

[Verse 1]
Oh musket and cannon torn his gray coat
Don't he look fine and handsome
Don't he look at his most
45 in the foxhole and at this I will boast
Don't they look fine and handsome
My poor Johnny Boy's Bones

[Chorus]
Well who will bring back my Johnny Boy's Bones
To lay beneath the trees of his Tennessee home
A box, a box made of sturdy white oak
With his arms folded up and his blue eyes all closed

[Verse 2]
Well he died for his country
And he died for his kin
And he died killing men
A most honorable sin
But them mean boys in blue
They done turned him in
When they laid him low
With a laugh and a grin

[Chorus X2]

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/c/colter_wall/johnny_boys_bones.html

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+ 7
Unregistered 2022-11-01 17:03:11

This song doesn't glorify the South, it simply tells a story. People demonize the South, but they were people like you and me, with feelings and loyalties and people they loved. There were good people, and there were bad people, and at the and of the day, most were just trying to fight for their country and their families and what they thought to be their way of life. That doesn't excuse slavery, and in this song, Colter Wall isn't talking about slavery or even who was right or wrong in this war - it's just the sad story of a father/mother of a father whose son went to war, who happened to be a Confederate, and how they wish they could have his body back to bury it.

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+ 2
Unregistered 2023-04-27 17:12:58

As stated above by another commenter, the first line of this song is quite literally taken from a minstrel song. Borrowing a style from a place you've never lived is one thing - with research and respect, it can be pulled off. That does not mean it's acceptable to glorify and "fondly reminisce" on such a vile piece of history, blowing over the impact and drawing sympathy for such a matter. It's one thing to yearn for your child's remains to take home - real people died in this war, and I do not deny that. Even outside of the opening line however, the first four lines of verse two are a strong example of the active glorification of the confederate cause here. We can tell and honor history without glorifying those who fought to oppress, abuse, and enslave. In the best interpretation, this is a song about a pro-confederate, pro-enslavement person wanting their son back. Even with that lens, painting this person in such a sympathetic, unchallenged light serves to once again glorify these values. It's a pity this song is well performed, because the lyrics are simply repugnant.

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Unregistered 2022-08-15 02:31:17

Wall is singing of a father who longs for his confederate son's body to be returned home where his son can lay at rest in "a box made of sturdy white oak" under the trees of the Tennessee home ("To lay 'neath the trees of our Tennessee home").
Say what you will about the song, but there's the literal meaning/story of the song.

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- 1
Unregistered 2024-04-30 02:18:24

It’s been established by other commenters that this song is not pro confederacy, just a story—pretty classic for a folk song. I think the oxymoron “honorable sin” and the nature of the story, in which a father loses his son in war, hints at an underlying anti-war sentiment in this song.

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- 5
Unregistered 2023-04-09 04:31:58

Take a closer look at the history of this song. At least read the entire Wikipedia page on the original, Dixie by Daniel Decatur Emmett. “ In short, "Dixie" made the case, more strongly than any previous minstrel tune had, that slaves belonged in bondage.[17] This was accomplished through the song's protagonist, who, in comic black dialect, implies that despite his freedom, he is homesick for the plantation of his birth.”

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- 27
Unregistered 2021-09-24 19:40:53

Seems very strange that a Canadian country singer would be glorifying the confederacy in this way. The first verse is what is really troublesome to me “I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times they are not forgotten.” Real shame that the lyrics are so distractingly bad/harmful considering how catchy the song is otherwise.

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