Story Behind The Song

April 14, 1865. John Wilkes Booth, a southern actor and political activist, assassinates President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre while the president is watching a British Comedy.

Lyrics

oh, my brother
I remain estranged from you
surrender is a folly
I will not accede to blue

Let Lee and Davis curry
small favors, bitter yields
my heart is pledged eternal
to Stonewall's blood-stained fields.

With Georgia all in tatters
And Dixie drenched in shame
I have set upon this course
let history judge my name

Chorus:
At the peak of their applause
the crowd convulsed in laughter
my pistol did articulate
the vengeance I was after

oh, my brother
our blood feud ran too deep
I cannot slur the valor of
the boys whose charge I keep

let cowards and politicians
break bread and offer toasts
My heart has left the living
for the company of ghosts

When brother strikes at brother
the wounds resist their cure
no cause is a lost one
When the principle is pure

Chorus:
At the peak of their applause
the crowd convulsed in laughter
my pistol did articulate
the vengeance I was after

the master of our suffering is
a pistol shot away
at last I near my target
and fate's eventful day

Chorus:
At the peak of their applause
the crowd convulsed in laughter
my pistol did articulate
the vengeance I was after