Oh, Sultana

[Deleted]

Got the idea to write this after watching "History Detectives" on PBS last week. They had a show exploring the 1865 explosion of the SS Sultana, which claimed 1,800 lives (the number is an estimate) and remains the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history. I went online to see what other songs had been written about it. Son Volt has a song called "Sultana" and for all of that band's genius, the lyrics read like a Wikipedia entry. Some folksinger named Cory Branan wrote "The Wreck of the Sultana" and the lyrics are a long recitation of the story. I wanted something shorter, a song that wasn't so much a history lesson but a story.

There are still a couple of lines that read clunky, but they sing ok.

Constructive criticism is welcome.....


OH, SULTANA
© 2014 by David Hanners

Came aboard at Vicksburg, prairie dog town
Herded us like cattle on that sagging boat
Shadow survivors of Andersonville
Now I'm going home to Ohio

(chorus)
Oh, Sultana, take me home to her
Take me up this river
Oh, Sultana, take me home
Take me up this river

No sleep 'neath a dim waxing moon
Overloaded steamer rolled side to side
North of Memphis, three of her boilers blew
Only God in Heaven knows how many good men died

Stay aboard, be roasted alive
Over the side, a watery grave
Swollen Mississippi claimed many a life
Death made no distinction 'tween coward or brave

(chorus)

Burning boat drifted on 'round the bend
Night sky aglow from the fires of Hell
I think of my Jeanine, walking through lilacs
If you see her, my story please tell

(chorus 2x)