Folk Songs About Memorial Day

U.S. holiday celebrated on the last Monday in May. It honors those who have died in war. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves.

All gave some and some gave all.

Elana James \ Hey Beautiful
Eric Bogle \ No Man's Land & Hallowed Ground
Robin & Linda Williams \ 50,000 Names
Si Kahn / Memorial Day / Thanksgiving / Strictly Country
Meg Hutchinson \ Song For Jeffrey Lucey
John Flynn's "Semper Fi" & "Dover"
Lincolns Man-  Ben Bedford
American Soldier-  Janet Bates
Glory Days-  Teena Moyer
1863-  Sally Shuffield
Sgt. MacKenzie-  Clan An Drumma (Joe Kilna MacKenzie)
Jim Salestrom - After the War
David Ball "Riding With Private Malone"
James McMurtry - "Memorial Day"
Jason Eady - "Battlefields"
Joe Pug -  "Bury Me Far From My Uniform"
Tom Paxton:  The Unknown (Politics -- Live), Flying Fish 70486 
Richard  Shindell: Reunion Hill (Reunion Hill), Shanachie 8027 

[songs I've played and liked in recent years]
Dixie Chicks\ Travelin' Soldier\ Home\ Columbia (Viet Nam)
John Wright with Junior Blanckenship and James Price\ Soldier's Boy\ Promises\ Self (Viet Nam)
Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard\ Two Soldiers\ Hazel & Alice\ Rounder (Civil War)
John Lee Hooker\ Decoration Day Blues\ The Classic Early Years 1948 - 1951\ JSP
Woody Guthrie\ Sinking of the Reuben James\ That's Why We're Marching (VA)\ Smithsonian/Folkways

[other good ones]
Michael Troy\ The Last Day of May\ Whispers in the Wind
Joel Mabus: "Touch a Name on the Wall" ("The Naked Truth", Fossil)
Normandy Orchards \ TOM LEWIS \ Mixed Cargo \ Borealis

Jack Kid - Requiem in Blue and Gray
Jack Kid - Missing

Truckstop Souvenir\ Memorial Day\ Leave Nothing Behind

Carol Noonan: Medal of Mine, Johnny Has Gone for A Soldier, War That Can't Be Won, In Flanders Fields (Somebody's Darling - Songs of War, Loss, and Remembrance), self 
Clarence Bucaro: Wartime Prayer (Sense of Light), Rounder

From:  Ken Batista
JEAN RITCHIE & DOC WATSON - Soldier's Joy
  Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson at Folk City - Smithsonian Folkways
JEAN RITCHIE & DOC WATSON - East Virginia
  Jean Ritchie & Doc Watson at Folk City - Smithsonian Folkways
E.C. BALL - Warfare
  High Atmosphere: Ballads & Banjo Tunes from Virginia & North Carolina
  Smithsonian Folkways
JIM HENDRICKS - Down Yonder
  Appalachian Mountain Homecoming - Maple Street  (M)
LEE MONROE PRESNELL - My Sweet Soldier Boy
  Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Warner Collection, Vol. II - Appleseed
FRANK PROFFITT - Cluck Old Hen
  Frank Proffitt of Reese, North Carolina - Folk-Legacy
REBECCA KING JONES - Captain, O Captain
  Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Warner Collection, Vol. II - Appleseed
FRANK PROFFITT - Poor Soldier
  Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Warner Collection, Vol. II - Appleseed
HOWIE BURSEN - Hull's Victory/Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine/The Dying Ranger
  Banjo Manikin - Folk-Legacy
NEW LOST CITY RAMBLERS - The Battleship of Maine
  The Early Years, 1958-1962 - Smithsonian Folkways
THE CARTER FAMILY - The Dying Soldier
  Worried Man Blues, 1930 - Rounder
HANK PENNY & HIS RADIO COWBOYS - Army Blues
  Roots N' Blues: The Retrospective, Disc Four - Columbia/Legacy
PETE SEEGER - The Willing Conscript
  Selections from The Best of Broadside, 1962-1988 - Smithsonian Folkways
JOSEF MARAIS w/ HIS BUSHVELD BAND - Marching to Pretoria
  Folk Song America: A 20th Century Revival, Vol. 1 - Sony
MIKE SCOTT -  Blackberry Blossom
  Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Maple Street  (M)
EMMYLOU HARRIS - Mary Danced With Soldiers
  Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2 - MCA
"YANKEE" JOHN GALUSHA - Irish 69th
  Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still, The Warner Collection,  Vol. 1 -
Appleseed
DAVID KINCAID - The Irish Volunteer
  The Irish Volunteer: Songs of the Irish Union Soldier, 1861-1865 - Ryko
(R)
COUNTRY GENTLEMEN - Legend of the Rebel Soldier
  The Early Rebel Recordings, 1962-1971 - Rebel
BOB HEYER - Battle of Shiloh Hill
  Close to the Heart - Table Rock
JAY UNGAR - Ashokan Farewell
  The Civil War Original Soundtrack - Elektra Nonesuch  (M)
JOHN HARTFORD - Lorena
  Songs of the Civil War - Columbia
ACOUSTIC SHADOWS OF THE BLUE & GRAY - Vacant Chair
  Echoes Through Time...A Campfire Review - self
HOYT AXTON - The Yellow Rose of Texas
  Songs of the Civil War - Columbia
JAY UNGAR/PAUL ROEBLING & DAVID McCULLOUGH - Ashokan Farewell/Sullivan
                  Ballou Letter - The Civil War Original Soundtrack - Elektra Nonesuch
LEARNED HAND - Iron Merrimac
  A Treasury of Library of Congress Field Recordings - Rounder
BOB CARLIN - Far in the Mountain
  Banging & Sawing  (M)
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK - Sojourner's Battle Hymn
  Still on the Journey -  Earth Beat!
KIM & REGGIE HARRIS - Harriet Tubman/Steal Away
  Steal Away: Songs of the Underground Railroad - Appleseed
LEE MURDOCK - Perry's Victory on Lake Erie
  The Lost Lake Sailors - Depot
ROBIN BULLOCK - Banish Misfortune
  The Lightning Field - Azalea City  (M)
FRED McDOWELL - Germany Blues
  Southern Journey, Vol. 3: 61 Highway Revisited - Rounder
MICHAEL JEROME BROWNE - Wartime Blues
  Michael Jerome Browne - Bros
HARRY LEWMAN - Fannin Street
  Gonna Be the Death of You - self
SCOTT AINSLIE - Parchmans Farm Blues
  Terraplane - Cattail
ERNIE HAWKINS - Broke Down Engine
  Bluesified - Say Mo' Music
LEADBELLY, TERRY McGHEE and DUPREE - National Defense Blues
  That's Why We're Marching: World War II & The American Folk Song Movement -
  Smithsonian Folkways
BLIND WILLIE JOHNSON - When the War Was On
  Great Blues Guitarists: String Dazzlers - Columbia/Legacy
WOODY GUTHRIE - Sinking of the Rueben James
  That's Why We're Marching: World War II & The American  Folk Song Movement -
  Smithsonian Folkways
PAT DONOHUE - Mudslide
  American Guitar - Bluesky  (M)
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON - Wartime Blues
  King of the Country Blues - Yazoo
ALMANAC SINGERS/PETE SEEGER - Ballad of October 16
  That's Why We're Marching: World War II & The American Folk Song Movement -
  Smithsonian Folkways
LEW STONE - The White Cliffs of Dover
  We'll Meet Again: The Love Songs of World War II - MCA
LEW STONE - When They Sound the All Clear
  We'll Meet Again: The Love Songs of World War II - MCA
THE TONY RICE UNIT - Sally Goodin
  Unit of Measure - Rounder  (M)
KATE RUSBY & KATHRYN ROBERTS - The Queen and the Soldier
  Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts - Compass
TIM ERICKSEN - I Wish the Wars Were All Over
  Tim Ericksen - Appleseed
ADRIAN LEGG - Ragged Nail
  Waiting for a Dancer - Red House  (M)
STEVE TILSTON & MAGGIE BOYLE - Dark Days of War
  All Under the Sun - Flying Fish
RORY McLEOD - Farming Woman's War
  Travelling Home - Cooking Vinyl
STEPHEN FEARING - Man of War
  Industrial Lullaby - Red House
CASEY NEILL TRIO - May Morning Dew
  Portland West - Appleseed
ERIN McKEOWN - The Door
  Queen of Quiet - Signature Sounds  (C)
ADRIAN LEGG - Bayou Blues
  Waiting For a Dancer - Red House  (M)
RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT - Soldier's Last Letter
  Kerouac's Last Dream - Appleseed
RAMBLIN' JACK ELLIOTT,  JOSE FELICIANO, ALVIN YOUNGBLOOD HART BILL MILLER
  & DAR WILLIAMS - This  Land is  Your  Land - Rockin' Patriots - Rhino
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON - The Pilgrim: Chapter  33
  The Austin Sessions - Atlantic  (R)
JOHN PRINE - Sam Stone
  Souvenirs - Oh Boy   (R)
CATHY FINK - Coming Home
  Doggone My Time - Sugar Hill
PAT DONOHUE - Welcome Home
  American Guitar - Bluesky  (M)
RANDY NEWMAN - Follow The Flag
  This  Land is  Your  Land - Rockin' Patriots - Rhino  (R)(I)
JOHN GORKA - Semper Fi
  Jack's Crows - Highstreet  (I)
STEVE GOODMAN - My Old Man
  No Big Surprise: The Steve Goodman Anthology - Red Pajamas
NINA GERGER w/ GREG BROWN - Kate's Guitar
  Not Before Noon - Goatscape Music
MICKEY NEWBURY - An American Trilogy
  It Might as Well Be the Moon - Mountain Retreat
NINA GERBER - Late in the Night
  Not Before Noon - Goatscape Music (M)
DAVID RODRIGUEZ - The True Cross
  The True Cross - DejaDisc
JOHN McCUTCHEON - Homecoming Time
  Storied Ground - Rounder Select
RICHARD SHINDELL - The Things I Have Seen
  Blue Divide - Shanachie
NINA GERBER w/ LUCY KAPLANSKY - Workin' in Corners
  Not Before Noon - Goatscape Music
PAT DONOHUE - The Star Spangled Banner
  American Guitar - BlueSky  (M)
IRIS DeMENT - There is a Wall in Washington
  The Way I Should - Warner Brothers
STEVE GOODMAN - The Ballad of Penny Evans
  The Original Steve Goodman - Buddha Records
TOWNES VAN ZANDT - Ira Hayes
  Road Songs - Sugar Hill
PHIL OCHS - Remember Me
  The Broadside Tapes 1 - Smithsonian  Folkways

Folk Music Song Themes Last modified