michigan my michigan lyrics

I make no secret of the fact that The Romance of the Glory of the Old South drives me nuts (and that makes my mother nuts; she lived in North Carolina for years among all those wonderful people! Except most of her friends were other transplanted retirees. And the few real Southerners she knew were people she hired for stuff like cleaning and painting. They were invariably polite to her [moreso than I ever was], but many of them drive cars with stickers on them of an emblem representing a rebellion founded on the right to hold other people as property [because what other right do you think "state's rights" was about?]).

Recently, I heard a version of the not-official-state-song of Michigan, Michigan, My Michigan, sung by Jeff Daniels. This version, written in 1862, was a response to local boys dying in the Civil War. It comes close to expressing my feelings about the Civil War South:

Home of my heart, I sing of thee! Michigan, My Michigan,
Thy lake-bound shores I long to see,
Michigan, my Michigan.
From Saginaw’s tall whispering pines
To Lake Superior’s farthest mines,
Fair in the light of memory shines
Michigan, my Michigan.

Thou gav’st thy sons without a sigh,
Michigan, my Michigan,
And sent thy bravest forth to die,
Michigan, my Michigan.
Beneath a hostile southern sky
They bore thy banner proud and high,
Ready to fight but never fly,
Michigan, my Michigan.

From Yorktown on to Richmond’s wall,
Michigan, my Michigan,
They bravely fight, as bravely fall,
Michigan, my Michigan.
To Williamsburgh we point with pride—
Our Fifth and Second, side by side,
There stemmed and stayed the battle’s tide,
Michigan, my Michigan.

When worn with watching traitor foes,
Michigan, my Michigan,
The welcome night brought sweet repose,
Michigan, my Michigan.
The soldier, weary from the fight,
Sleeps sound, nor fears the rebels’ might,
For "Michigan’s on guard tonight!"
Michigan, my Michigan.

Afar on Shiloh’s fatal plain,
Michigan, my Michigan,
Again behold thy heroes slain,
Michigan, my Michigan.
"Their strong arms crumble in the dust,
And their bright swords have gathered rust;
Their memory is our sacred trust,"
Michigan, my Michigan.

And often in the coming years,
Michigan, my Michigan,
Some widowed mother ‘ll dry her tears,
Michigan, my Michigan,
And turning with a thrill of pride,
Say to the children at her side,
At Antietam your father died,
For Michigan, our Michigan.

With General Grant’s victorious name,
Michigan, my Michigan,
Thy sons still onward march to fame,
Michigan, my Michigan.
And foremost in the fight we see,
Where e’er the bravest dare to be,
The sabres of thy cavalry,
Michigan, my Michigan.

Dark rolled the Rappahannock’s flood,
Michigan, my Michigan,
The tide was crimsoned with thy blood,
Michigan, my Michigan.
Although for us the clay was lost,
Still it shall be our broadest boast:
At Fredericksburg our Seventh crossed!
Michigan, my Michigan.

And when the happy time shall come,
Michigan, my Michigan,
That brings thy war-worn heroes home,
Michigan, my Michigan,
What welcome from their own proud shore,
What honors at their feet we’ll pour,
What tears for those who’ll come no more,
Michigan, my Michigan.

A grateful country claims them now,
Michigan, my Michigan,
And deathless laurel binds each brow,
Michigan, my Michigan;
And history the tale will tell,
Of how they fought and how they fell,
For that dear land they loved so well,
Michigan, my Michigan.

From now on, every time I see a Rebel flag, I will sing to myself, "...Beneath a hostile southern sky/They bore thy banner proud and high/Ready to fight but never fly,..." And if those Southern states ever want to secede again, let us remind those who would use force to hold us together, of the words in our own Declaration of Independence:

...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...

If they do not consent, then we should let them go. But they gotta take Texas.