'The Civil War' Soundtrack - Ashokan Farewell

"Ashokan Farewell"

The Civil War
Music from the film by Ken Burns
Music composed & performed by Jay Ungar

[moviemusichq]

Who won the war? The Union Army, obviously, won the war, in the sense that they were the army left standing and holding their weapons when it was all over. So the soldiers who fought in the Union Army, the generals who directed it, the president who led the country during it, won the war.

If we’re not talking just about the series of battles that finished up with the surrender at Appomattox, but talking instead about the struggle to make something higher, and better, out of the country, then the question gets more complicated. The slaves won the war, and they lost the war. Because they won freedom (that is, the removal of slavery), but they did not win freedom as they understood freedom

I think what we need to remember, most of all, is that the Civil War is not over until we today have done our part in fighting it as well as understanding what happened when the Civil War generation fought it. William Faulkner said once that history is not “was”, it’s “is”, and what we need to remember about the Civil War is that the Civil War IS in the present as well as in the past. The generation that fought the war, the generation that argued over the definition of the war, the generation that had to pay the price in blood, that had to pay the price in blasted hopes and a lost future, also established a standard that will not mean anything until we have finished the work.

You can say there’s no such thing as slavery anymore, we are all citizens, but if we’re all citizens then we have a task to do to make sure that that too is not a joke. If some citizens live in houses and others live on the street, the Civil War is still going on, it’s still to be fought, and regrettably it can still be lost.


- Barbara Fields (historian, Columbia University)

[karenfuncheon]

This was played at my son's funeral who was killed in Iraq some 11 years ago. Wars never change even if the equipment is more proficient. Alex, I miss you.

[slywlf]

My husband and I lived in the Catskills for the last 10 years of my husbands life, and we were fortunate enough to hear Jay and Molly play any number of times at both paid and casual party occasions. At the time my husband was nearing the end, and had fallen in love with this melody during our watch of the series. He was, however, totally clueless that this pair were responsible for the song. At one of his last events before he was too sick to go anywhere, he quietly asked Jay if he knew that song (!!) because it gave him peace, and without batting an eye Jay took him aside and played it for him - waving off the rest of the party attendees - a private performance. His kindness has stayed with me ever since <3

[MVMullins]

I listen to this as I think of my Wife who just lost her battle with cancer and I am in tears.
We all have our wars and some are more personal.

[lauralalli]

When Ken Burns' The Civil War was first released, my Dad and I jokingly argued over who would have this song played first...me at my wedding (I was single and unattached at the time), or him at his funeral (he was still in good health). I won - it was played at my wedding in December 1993. :) Thirteen years and thirteen days later, we played it at his funeral. Ours wasn't an easy relationship; we argued for real a lot. But this beautiful, beautiful song was one of the things we agreed on, and it is a tie between us even now. I miss you, Daddy...and I understand.

[coolarcherfilms]

I don’t know why, but this song makes me nostalgic of a time I never knew

[billward]

When this played in the background as Sullivan Ballou's letter to his wife is read, it is impossible not to cry.

[MasalaiMeri]

Ken Burns Civil War is arguably one of the best documentaries I've ever watched.
The soundtrack is outstanding.

[wrongway]

The Civil War on PBS was probably the best documentary I have ever seen. Nothing today can match it.

[kellyhouk]

If this isn’t played at my funeral I’m not coming.

[DallasCoryell]

I watched The Civil War on on PBS with my father when I was in middle school, and this song was the iconic lifeblood that ran through the whole series. He passed away unexpectedly in 2011, but this song will always be the nostalgic bridge back into those fond memories that allow me to visit him whenever I want. Miss you, Dad.

[MeredithAnne]

This song was played at my cousin's funeral in 2006. He was killed in Iraq that November. We hold this song close to us.

[GIGroundNPound]

There is something about this song that somehow sinks into my bones. It swells my heart with a combination of sadness and longing; for what I don't know. I teared up on multiple occasions when watching the documentary. That so many fellow countrymen, brothers, fathers, and sons died just hits so hard. Especially today given the unhealthy discourse we face on a constant basis.

[jtbheflin]

One of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard

[Dawgs]

"It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it."

Gen. Robert E. Lee

[jorgemartinpaez]

"There was not a jeer, or a cheer, or tear, but still silence as if it were a passing of the dead, " Gen Joshua Chamberlain, Appomattox Courthouse, the Passing of the Armies, April, 12th, 1865.

[Freawulf]

I'm not American, but the American Civil War intrigued me and moved me since my early teens. And when I first watched Ken Burn's documentary this amazing tune brought tears to my eyes... This tune will always be engraved to my subconscious when it comes to anything CW-related and will always make me think of all those who perished in it, Grey-clad or Blue-clad...

[thomast]

First heard this 30 years ago, thanks to Ken Burns. It still brings a tear to my eye after all of that time, particularly now, knowing that we Americans are once again walking a divided path.

[toastgod]

As I near 17, it's impossible to listen to this song without realizing that me and my closest friends would have been soldiers at this age, and worse, that we might not have been on the same side. Though I've always been interested in the Civil War, recently the horrors of it have become more real to me. I'm brought to tears when I think about all the men and boys who died in the war; one people, but two sides, both sacrificing themselves for the only thing they'd ever known. We were a country too old and bitter to want peace but too young to know that peace was the only option.

[mdb]

This song always makes me cry. I feel the weight of the past reaching ut to us. We have not paid down the debt of the Revolution or the Civil War. Those are things we never can wipe out. We can only acknowledge them with tolerance and respect for different opinions. We've come to a difficult point in the history of the Republic that Benjamin Franklin said we could have if we could keep it. I hope so fervently that we can. I fear dark days ahead. I hope so strongly that we learn the lessons of history and do not repeat the bad ones.