Shenandoah

In 1975, Jill and I took my parents to Boston’s Colonial Theater to see John Cullum in Shenandoah.  It was a very good production of an excellent show, which ran on Broadway for over 1000 performances.  Later, I bought the original-cast LP, which has been sitting unplayed in my basement, along with many other OC LPs, for many years – until now.  A friend told me that he had transferred his LP collection to CDs, and, intrigued, I bought a similar device and have started the long transferral process.

So far, I have burned CDs of many musicals, some brilliant, some not. But Shenandoah made me sit up and take notice. Based on the 1965 movie, it was an anti-war musical about a Virginia family’s Civil War hardships, and it was in sync with the public’s distaste for Vietnam.  Here are the lyrics for one of the memorable songs, sung by Cullum:

Stand and show your colors. Let's all go to war. The Lord will surely bless us.

I've heard it all before. I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.

They always have a holy cause to march you off to war.

Tyranny or justice, anarchy or law. We must defend our honor.

I've heard it all before. I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.

They always have a holy cause that's worth the dyin' for.

Someone writes a slogan, raises up a flag. Someone finds an enemy to blame.

The trumpet sounds the call to arms to leave the cities and the farms.

And always the ending is the same, the same, the same, the same.

The dream has turned to ashes, the wheat has turned to straw.

And someone asks the question: "What's the dyin' for?"

The living can't remember, the dead no longer care. But next time it won't happen. 

Upon my soul I swear I've heard it all a hundred times. I've heard it all before.

Don't tell me "It's different now." I've heard it all, I've heard it all, I've heard it all before.

The music was by Gary Geld, the lyrics by Peter Udell. 

Shenandoah's Civil War story had two sides, one of which was told by the play. But there is never a shortage of people to tell the other side. These days, with the hawks urging a “more muscular” foreign policy over Ukraine, Syria, Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Gaza, and God knows where else, we could use a play like Shenandoah today.