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I wrote this song for my Dad. I'm sorry he never got to hear it. He was a Civil War buff and the pictures Mathew Brady took were in books all over our house.

lyrics

Hold Still
My name is Mathew Brady.
I hail from Saratoga.
Now, I live in Washington
Amid a Civil War.

I made my reputation
With a tripod and a camera;
And plan on photographing
Every soldier, every sword.

Chorus:
As I said s“ Hold Still, Hold Still”
A smiling soldier hoists a flag
And his comrades gather ‘round.


Verse 2.
To the Rebs it was Manassas
To the North it was Bull Run.
To me is was a worthless creek
Hardly fit for cattle.

Before the day was over,
And the next sad day begun
I photographed one thousand boys
Who lost their lives in battle.

Chorus:
“Hold Still. Hold Still”
As I focus on those jolly boys
Now dead upon the ground.

Verse 3
I showed them in their uniforms
In all their flashing glory
I photographed them as they died
A’bleeding on the clay.
I trained my lens unflinching
On subjects grim and gory,
And I thought “ This war can’t last too long,
When they see what price they pay.”
Verse 4
But it lasted four more awful years
And I photographed the story;
From Lincoln to the generals,
To the lowly young cadet.

But these plates don’t show the color
Of their dried blood in the sun.
You cannot hear their cries of pain
Or smell the stench of death.


Chorus:
As I said s“ Hold Still, Hold Still”
A smiling soldier hoists a flag
And his comrades gather ‘round.
“Hold Still. Hold Still”
As I focus on those jolly boys
Now dead upon the ground.



My name is Mathew Brady
I live here in New York
I am broke and I’m forgotten
Aand I am nearly dead..

My plates were sold as greenhouse panes.
And remanded by the courts.
They were my last reminders of
All those times I said:

Chorus:
“ Hold Still, Hold Still”
A smiling soldier hoists a flag
And his comrades gather ‘round.
“Hold Still. Hold Still”
As I focus on those jolly boys
Now dead upon the ground.

credits

from Charlie Barnett: All By His Own Self, released May 14, 2020
Charlie: banjo, piano, vocal
Greg Watkins bass

license

all rights reserved

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about

Modern Songbook Records Bethesda, Maryland

Modern Songbook Records is a boutique record label specializing in Music to Dress Up For.

The label represents three fantastic artists:
Chaise Lounge - www.ChaiseLoungeNation.com
Gia Mora - www.GiaMora.com
Charlie Barnett - www.CharlieBarnett.com
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