My brave lad sleeps in his faded coat of blue
In a lonely silent grave lies the heart that beat so true
He sank faint and hungry among the famish'd brave
And they laid him sad and lonely within his nameless grave
He cried, ";Give me water and just a little crumb
And my mother she will bless you in all the years to come
Oh! tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true
That I'll meet her up in heaven, in my faded coat of blue."
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is giving for the faded coat of blue
Long, long years have vanished, and though he comes no more
Yet my heart will startling beat with each footfall at my door
I gaze over the hill where he waved a last adieu
But no gallant lad I see, in his faded coat of blue
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is giving for the faded coat of blue
In a lonely silent grave lies the heart that beat so true
He sank faint and hungry among the famish'd brave
And they laid him sad and lonely within his nameless grave
He cried, ";Give me water and just a little crumb
And my mother she will bless you in all the years to come
Oh! tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true
That I'll meet her up in heaven, in my faded coat of blue."
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is giving for the faded coat of blue
Long, long years have vanished, and though he comes no more
Yet my heart will startling beat with each footfall at my door
I gaze over the hill where he waved a last adieu
But no gallant lad I see, in his faded coat of blue
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is giving for the faded coat of blue
Contributed by Piersante Sestini - 2021/3/9 - 09:29
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Pubblicata nel 1865, verso la fine della guerra civile (o di secessione) americana da John Hugh McNaughton (1829-91), poeta e autore dello stato di New York.
Incisa per la prima volta nel gennaio del 1928 da Buell Kazee e poi da molti altri. La versione più nota è quella del 1934 della Carter Family, che essendo della Virginia (stato del Sud), cambiò la fine del terzo verso, "famished brave", in "Spanish brave" per ambientarla nella guerra ispano-americana. Io riporto qui i versi originali, ma la guerra è sempre guerra.
La mia versione preferita è quella recente di Jolie Holland, cantante folk/jazz/blues di origini texane ma residente a Vancouver. Il link a Youtube comunque lo metto alla versione di Buell Kazee del 1928, non foss'altro che per il titolo della raccolta su CD su cui è stato ripubblicato nel 2010: "Bloody war, Songs 1924-1939"