Embedded Files
LYRICS
Freedom Begins! Rescue on the Combahee (June 1, 1863)
© June 2021 Greg Artzner & Terry Leonino (Magpie)
4th grade students, and their teachers Mrs. Mlod, Miss Robinson, Mr. Falzarano, Mrs. Maum, and Miss Taylor
Down on the Combahee, I was not afraid
We freed brothers and sisters, in that river raid
In that river raid, In that river raid,
We freed brothers and sisters in that river raid.
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
Went down to South Carolina, as a Union Spy
To help to free the slaves, that was my battle cry.
On the big plantations, along the river shore
The violence of slavery, will end forever more.
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
Slaves told me where torpedoes were deep in the Combahee
We’d have to get ‘em out of there and do it carefully.
They told me where the danger was in water down below,
They were forced to place ‘em; they were the ones to know
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
Yankees dove into the river to fetch torpedoes out,
Put themselves in danger, they were brave without a doubt.
They tore up the train tracks and pulled out the ties,
Cuttin’ off the rebels’ ammunition and supplies.
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
The Gunboats came steamin’ up, and took ‘em by surprise,
Terrified by the whistle ‘til they realized,
These were Lincoln’s gunboats come to set ‘em free.
Then they ran out from the trees hollerin’ “glory glory be!”
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
The people came a-runnin’ down to the river shore,
Roarin’ “Hallelujah! We are at the freedom door!”
Never have I ever seen such a sight,
Children hangin’ off their mamas’ necks, and holdin’ on so tight
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
They left the barns and the houses all aflame,
Carryin’ pigs and chickens, all fearfully they came.
A black pig named Jeff Davis and a white called Beauregard.
Grabbin’ everything that they could carry runnin’ ‘cross the yard.
Chorus:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
They ran down to the river and they jumped aboard the boats,
There were so many in ‘em, that they could barely float,
The rest held onto the rails so they couldn’t go,
Or grabbed onto the oars so the soldiers couldn’t row.
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
Colonel Montgomery called out above the throng,
Shoutin’ to me, “Moses! You’ll have to sing a song!”
Eight hundred people threw their hands into the air,
When I sang, they rowed the boats, and got ‘em out o’ there
Chorus x2:
Come along (come along) Come along (come along)
Make no delay
Come from every nation, come from every way.
Our lands they are broad enough, don’t feel alarm,
For Uncle Sam is rich enough, to give us all a farm.
Student Introduction to song:
In June of 2021, the 4th grade students at Genesee Elementry School learned about Harriet Tubman’s role in the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina during the Civil War.
As part of our research, we skyped with Tubman scholar Kate Clifford Larson and also took a field trip to Tubman’s gravesite.
We learned that Harriet sang songs to deliver messages to the enslaved people she was helping to escape. There are several songs we know that Harriet sang, and one of these songs she sang in June of 1863 when she helped free up to 800 people in South Carolina. We used this song for the chorus of the song we created with Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, known as the folk duo Magpie, during our weeklong songwriting residency.
The song is called “Freedom Begins! Rescue on the Combahee” We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it!
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