Our Jimmy has gone for to live in a tent,
they have grafted him into the Army,
he finally puckered up courage and went,
when they grafted him into the Army.
I told them the child was too young, alas!
At the captains forequarters, they said he would pass,
they'd train him up well in the Infantry class,
so they grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Dressed up in his unicorn, dear little chap,
they have grafted him into the Army;
it seems but a day since he sot in my lap,
but they grafted him into the Army.
And these are the trousies he used to wear,
them very same buttons, the patch and the tear;
but Uncle Sam gave him a bran' new pair
when they grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Now in my provisions I see him revealed,
they have grafted him into the Army;
a picket beside the contented field,
they have grafted him into the Army.
He looks kinder sickish -- begins to cry,
a big volunteer standing right in his eye!
Oh, what if the ducky should up and die,
now they've grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
they have grafted him into the Army,
he finally puckered up courage and went,
when they grafted him into the Army.
I told them the child was too young, alas!
At the captains forequarters, they said he would pass,
they'd train him up well in the Infantry class,
so they grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Dressed up in his unicorn, dear little chap,
they have grafted him into the Army;
it seems but a day since he sot in my lap,
but they grafted him into the Army.
And these are the trousies he used to wear,
them very same buttons, the patch and the tear;
but Uncle Sam gave him a bran' new pair
when they grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Now in my provisions I see him revealed,
they have grafted him into the Army;
a picket beside the contented field,
they have grafted him into the Army.
He looks kinder sickish -- begins to cry,
a big volunteer standing right in his eye!
Oh, what if the ducky should up and die,
now they've grafted him into the Army.
Oh, Jimmy, farewell! Your brothers fell way down in Alabammy;
I though they would spare a lone widder's heir,
but they grafted him into the Army.
Contributed by Bartleby - 2011/5/3 - 13:41
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All’inizio della Guerra civile l’arruolamento di volontari in ferma di breve termine era considerato sufficiente perché gli strateghi pensavano che il conflitto non sarebbe durato a lungo… Non passò molto tempo prima che si accorgessero di aver sbagliato i calcoli (come al solito, in ogni guerra che si rispetti). Quando le carneficine cominciarono ad essere tali che i volontari non riuscivano più a rimpiazzare morti, feriti e disertori, allora da entrambe le parti si corse ai ripari.
I primi furono i confederati, che già nell’aprile del 1862 obbligarono a tre anni di servizio militare tutti i maschi tra i 18 e i 35 anni (poi innalzati a 45). Nel marzo dell’anno seguente fu la volta degli unionisti: arruolamento obbligatorio per tutti i maschi tra i 20 e i 45 anni.
Le leggi di coscrizione obbligatoria non prevedevano scappatoie se non quella che il coscritto potesse inviare al proprio posto un sostituto o pagare una tassa di esenzione di 300 $. Insomma, solo chi aveva i soldi poteva permettersi di scampare a morte quasi certa o a mutilazioni menomanti: “A rich man's war and a poor man's fight" (anche qui come al solito, in ogni cazzo di guerra che si rispetti).
Giustamente i poveracci costretti al macello si ribellarono. Per quattro giorni, nel luglio del 1863, New York fu messa a ferro e fuoco da torme di inferociti irlandesi, poveri e quindi inculati. L’insurrezione, la più sanguinosa di tutta la storia degli Stati Uniti, degenerò ben presto in un pogrom ai danni degli afroamericani (i più poveri e i più inculati di tutti quanti). Fu imposta la legge marziale e la rivolta fu schiacciata nel sangue dall’esercito, che fece largo uso di artiglieria e di baionetta… Le scene non dovettero essere dissimili da quelle ricostruite da Martin Scorsese nella parte finale del suo “Gangs of New York” del 2002, anche se il film, basato sul romanzo nel 1928 di Herbert Asbury, è una fiction.
In questa canzone una madre dà voce a tutto il suo dolore nel vedere il suo figlio più piccolo costretto ad arruolarsi (“grafted”, “comprato”, “raggirato”, c’è nel verbo tutto il senso dell’ingiustizia) dopo che tutti i suoi fratelli sono già morti in guerra…
(da Poetry and Music of the War Between the States)