Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Day 285 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "The power and restraint of art and genius lurk in the lines and melody of this song from the black rock gangs of Georgia and Alabama. The air is to be freely rendered. It is strictly one with variations, glides, blue notes, as you choose at moments. It relates directly to an older piece known in the mountains as Swannanoa Town [or Swannanoa Tunnel].
In accompaniment Henry Francis Parks indicates, “The hammer stroke motive should quite predominate.”
The connection between this song and "Swannanoa Tunnel" is very strong. I live near Swannanoa and the Swannanoa Tunnel, so in the future I will be recording and writing about the Swannanoa Tunnel history.
Day 285 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
Sandburg writes: "The power and restraint of art and genius lurk in the lines and melody of this song from the black rock gangs of Georgia and Alabama. The air is to be freely rendered. It is strictly one with variations, glides, blue notes, as you choose at moments. It relates directly to an older piece known in the mountains as Swannanoa Town [or Swannanoa Tunnel].
In accompaniment Henry Francis Parks indicates, “The hammer stroke motive should quite predominate.”
The connection between this song and "Swannanoa Tunnel" is very strong. I live near Swannanoa and the Swannanoa Tunnel, so in the future I will be recording and writing about the Swannanoa Tunnel history.
