Jason Robert Brown
The Old Red Hills of Home
[YOUNG SOLDIER]
Farewell, my Lila
I'll write every evening
I've carved our names
In the trunk of this tree
Farewell, my Lila
I miss you already
And dream of the day
When I'll hold you again
In a home safe from fear
When the Southland is free
I go to fight for these old hills behind me
These old red hills of home
I go to fight, for these old hills remind me
Of a way of life that's pure
Of the truth that must endure
In a town called Marietta
In the old red hills of home
Pray on this day as I journey beyond them
These old red hills of home
Let all the blood of the North spill upon them
'Till they've paid for what they've wrought
Taken back the lies they've taught
And there's peace in Marietta
And we're safe again in Georgia
In the land where Honor lives and breathes
The old red hills of home
Farewell, my Lila
Farewell
[OLD SOLDIER]
Look there, my Lila
They call me to tell it
The lives that we led
When the Southland was free
We gave our lives for the old hills of Georgia
The old red hills of home
Not much survives of the old hills of Georgia
But I close my eyes and hear
All the treasures we held dear
The rushing of the Chattahoochie
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
The tall pines and the red clay
[OLD SOLDIER]
The rustling in the wind
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
The blue skies and the dogwood trees
[OLD SOLDIER]
And Mama in the kitchen singin'
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
A man can grow his cotton
[OLD SOLDIER]
And me and Lila swinging in a tree
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
And his crops
[OLD SOLDIER & TOWNSPEOPLE]
Oh I hear it calling, calling
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
Still!
[OLD SOLIDER]
And I would gladly give
My good right leg Again
Again!
[TOWNSPEOPLE]
Again
God bless the sight
Of the old hills of Georgia
The old red hills of home
(Kneel down to) Praise those who fight
For the old hills of Georgia
For those proud and valiant men
We'll sing "Dixie" once again
For the men of Marrietta
(For the the brothers of Cobb County)
For the fathers of Atlanta
(For the patriarchs)
Who gave everything for Georgia
And the old red hills of home