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Collection The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America

Articles About Songs

To help provide historical context, the Library's curators have written articles about individual songs.

Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway by Stephen Foster A lesser-known Stephen Foster composition that's worth remembering.
Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster The Stephen Foster staple that has become one of America's most beloved serenades.
Danny Deever by Walter Damrosch Walter Damrosch's setting of the Rudyard Kipling poem.
Ethiopia Saluting the Colors by Henry (Harry) T. Burleigh Composed during the height of his success to a text by Walt Whitman, this is Burleigh's dramatic account of an African-American woman and her chance meeting with a Union Soldier
Hard Times by Stephen Foster A merger of Stephen Foster's compositional styles.
It's Coming - the Postponeless Creature by Ernst Bacon One of Bacon's celebrated settings of Emily Dickinson's poetry.
Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair by Stephen Foster A short-lived marriage led to one of Foster's most enduring songs, but it was relatively unknown in its time.
Let Down the Bars by Ernst Bacon One of Bacon's celebrated settings of Emily Dickinson's poetry.
Old Man's Love Song by Arthur Farwell From Three Indian Songs, Op. 32 (1908) by Arthur Farwell.
Shenandoah (traditional) Perhaps one of America's most recognizable folk tunes.