Tell Me Now
DESCRIPTION: "I don't know why I went to war, Tell me, oh tell me now... Or what these folks are fighting for." "I don't know why I totes this gun." The singer doesn't know why the troops feed badly when the officers eat well. He hopes God will take him when he dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (Niles/Moore-SongsMyMotherNeverTaughtMe)
KEYWORDS: soldier war food hardtimes death
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Niles/Moore-SongsMyMotherNeverTaughtMe, pp. 209-211, "Tell Me Now" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #27894
NOTES [40 words]: Niles/Moore-SongsMyMotherNeverTaughtMe says, "This is what the negroes did to the 'Mlle. from Armentieres." I'd be more inclined to believe it if the dialect were truer. I suspect a white man wrote this and claimed it as a Black song. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.0
File: NiMo209
Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography
The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.