I was at a bluegrass festival in early 2000s when the band played Dixie. It was an older crowd anyway, but there was a lot of standing and clapping. Very much still an anthem to them. Of course, I also remember one of the musicians asking how many people in the crowd had ridden to church in a wagon. As I recall, a couple dozen stood up. And I'm sure they were not lying. BTW, I felt like I'd been hearing the song my entire life ...
True in a literal sense, but there are a bevy of works from the baroque, classical and 19th C that, while not popular in most contexts, are arguably some of the best music ever written.
Totally. Just saying Bach isn’t getting Taylor Swift level streams on Spotify. Dixie and other minstrel tunes were ‘pop music’ in its day.
Growing up, I always considered it a song of joy without all the historical implications. But it's hard to ignore those. The unofficial anthem of the Confederacy. I've read that when civil rights marchers would sing "We Shall Overcome" that the whites opposing them would break into "Dixie."
I think of two things when I hear that song. I think about The Civil War, and I think about Gone With The Wind.
@Spurffelbow833 - I'm glad you mentioned Elvis's performance. Classic Elvis. The subject of the thread and then the video you posted immediately brought recollections of Elvis's passionate recording. I don't recall ever before seeing a video of Elvis, decked out as he was, singing Dixie, though I'd heard his recording. It was regularly (nightly) played as musical accompaniment to a portion of the nightly laser show projected onto the bas relief carved into the north face of Stone Mountain. The Elvis inspired finale of the 45 minute show was emotional for many seated and picnicking on the sloping, broad grass lawn before the show. The viewing crowds always erupted when Lee placed his hat on his head and the horses began to move. We took our children to see it when we moved to Atlanta in 1986. When out of town guests visited we took them to see the show as a taste of the old and now the new South. I've seen the show no less than 4, possibly 5 times. It made for an enjoyable evening and never failed to elicit some sort of heart felt response from first time viewers. This is a video of that portion of the Stone Mountain laser show projected onto the carved face of Stone Mountain. Enlarge the picture on your viewing screen for optimal viewing.
You writing screams of eloquence! Beautifully written and thanks for the attachment. You were either an English major or have produced reading material
It’s funny, while going through old stuff in our shed from the previous owner a couple months ago, I found an old metal sign like this: And now I have no idea what to do with it. It seems too much of an antique to just throw away, but I certainly can’t display it. So it just sits in a drawer in purgatory.
Concert ticket sales soared when they changed their name from the offensive “Dixie Cups” to “The D cups”.
No. But I can delete my earlier post if that would help. I genuinely thought, at the time, that OP was sad about this, and was wondering what retributive actions to take, or who to boycott. You have to admit- conservatives getting upset about these culture war issues recently has frequently led to them employing cancel culture. So I was just trying to be kind to OP, let him know help and directions would arrive. But I can delete.
