My sister Lee sends this interesting meditation on the song Dixie:
In 1985 I went to see Doc Watson perform at Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina. When summoned for his encore, he announced, “Now I’m going to sing America’s second national anthem.” And he began to play Dixie. The audience went insanely wild, feet stomping, hysterical cheers. It was thrilling. I was totally swept away.
And for years after, it continued to bother me. Why was it so thrilling? What did it mean? I just couldn't figure it out. The Civil War seemed to be so simple for Northerners, and still so complicated for the rest of us. So I forgot about Doc Watson and Dixie, felt embarrassed by it, and rather guilty too, and chalked it up to another mysterious, uncharted connection to my “country.” Then, last summer, after leaving the Civil War battlefield of Chancellorsville with Lloyd, my mom and my two kids, with my head full of ghosts, and a vision of Robert E. Lee swinging his hat over his head, his eyes gleaming with victory, I asked Lloyd if his miraculous i-pod contained within it the song Dixie, and if so, to play it. It did, and he did . . .
Read the rest here . . .
