"Death to King Alcohol!"
Temperance in the 19th Century
SONG GROUP PACKET
by Jennifer Erbach
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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19th Century Temperance Songs
In this packet, you will find the following:
 Directions and group roles
 Six temperance songs
 Song analysis worksheets
Directions:
1. Read through the song lyrics in this packet several times. If audio recordings are
available, listen to the songs as well.
2. As a group, fill out one “Song Analysis Worksheet” for each song in the packet.
3. Choose 2 songs that you think are the most effective. Write a 2-3 paragraph essay
discussing why you think that these songs are effective and noting what
persuasive techniques these songs employ.
4. Present your 2 selected songs to the class. Use the analysis worksheets that you
did for each song as an outline. Include an explanation of why you think that
these songs are the best examples of the ones you studied.
Group Roles:
Writer- worksheets (1-2)
Writer- essay (1)
Presenters (2-3)
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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19th Century Temperance Song Analysis Worksheet
Name of Song_________________________________________
If your song can be played, listen to your song first. Then read through the lyrics several
times and discuss them with your group before you begin filling out this sheet. If no
examples exist, just write “none” in the space provided and move on. Be sure to check
with the instructor if you have any questions!
Personal Appeal: Do the lyrics appeal to a particular person such as a father, young
woman, grandparent, teacher, etc? How? Provide specific evidence and examples.
Intellectual Appeal: Do the lyrics present an argument against the sale and/or
consumption of alcohol on intellectual grounds (i.e. “alcohol poisons the body”)?
Provide specific evidence and examples.
Social or Moral Appeal: Do the lyrics present an argument against the sale and/or
consumption of alcohol on moral or social ground (ie, “good Christians don’t drink,”
“drinking leads to poverty”)? Provide specific evidence and examples.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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Emotional Appeal: Do the lyrics attempt to persuade people not to drink and/or sell
alcohol by appealing to their emotions? How? Provide specific evidence and examples.
Other: What other persuasive techniques are used in the song? Do the lyrics contrast the
drunkard with the temperance man? Do the lyrics provide some alternative to using
alcohol? Are any famous examples or stories mentioned? Provide specific evidence and
examples.
Message: Overall, what is the main message (or messages) that this song is trying to
send to the person who hears it?
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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Song 13. To the tune of “Rosalie the Prairie Flower”
WATER as it gushes through the leafy vale,
In the streamlet gliding o'er the dale;
Water as it gushes through the leafy vale,
Water is the drink for me.
Take away the wine cup, take away the beer,
Water, give me water, fresh and clear;
Take away the wine cup, take away the beer,
Water is the drink for me.
Water, it yieldeth vigor and health;
Water's a mine of riches and wealth;
Friend of all creation, bounteous and free,
Water is the drink for me.
Water, as it dances on the pebbly strand,
In the summer sunshine looking grand;
Water, as it dances on the pebbly strand,
Water is the drink for me.
Take away, &c.
In the cause of temperance let us all abide;
Let its banners wave on every side;
Spread the cause of temperance, spread it far and wide;
Aid the work of truth and love.
Take away, &c.
From The Temperance Songster; a Collection of Songs and Hymns for All Temperance
Societies at the Library of Congress, at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/svy:@field(DOCID+@lit(tmps13))
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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The Drunkard’s Child
You ask me why so oft, father,
The tear rolls down my cheek,
And think it strange that I should own
A grief I dare not speak;
But O, my soul is very sad,
My brain is almost wild;
It breaks my heart, to think that I
Am call'd a drunkard's child.
Chorus:
But O, my soul is very sad,
My brain is almost wild;
It breaks my heart, To think that I
Am call'd a drunkard's child.
My playmates shun me now, father,
Or pass me by with scorn,
Because my dress is ragged, and
My shoes are old and torn;
And if I heed them not, "there goes
The drunkard's girl," they cry;
Oh then, how much I wish that God
Would only let me die.
Chorus
You used to love me once, father,
And we had bread to eat;
Mamma and I were warmly clad,
And life seem'd very sweet
You never spoke unkindly then,
Or dealt the angry blow;
Oh father dear, 'tis sad to think
That rum hath chang'd you so.
Chorus
Do not be angry now, father,
Because I tell you this,
But let me feel upon my brow,
Once more thy loving kiss;
And promise me, those lips no more,
With drink shall be defil'd.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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That, from a life of want and woe,
Thou'lt save thy weeping child.
From Illinois During the Gilded Age site at
http://dig.lib.niu.edu/gildedage/songs/drunkardschild.html
Audio available.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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King Alcohol: A Comic Temperance Glee
King Alcohol has many forms
By which he catches men
He is a beast of many horns
And ever thus has been.
Chorus:
For there's rum, and gin, and beer, and wine
And brandy of logwood hue
And hock, and port, and flip combine
To make a man look blue.
He says be merry, for here's good sherry
And Tom and Jerry, Champagne and Perry,
And spirits of every hue,
O are not these a fiendish crew
As ever a mortal knew
O are these a fiendish crew as ever a mortal knew.
King Alcohol is very sly
A liar from the first
He'll make you drink until you're dry
Then drink, because you thirst.
Chorus
King Alcohol has had his day
His kingdom's crumbling fast
His votaries are heard to say
Our tumbling days are past.
Chorus to come in after 3d. and 4th. verses:
There's no rum, nor gin, nor beer, nor wine
Nor brandy of any hue
Nor hock, nor port, nor flip combined
To make a man get blue
And now they're merry, without their sherry
Or Tom and Jerry, champagne and perry
Or spirits of every hue
And now they are a temperate crew
As ever a mortal knew
And now they are a temperate crew
And given the devil his due.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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The shout of Washingtonians
Is heard on every gale
They're chanting now the victory
O'er cider, beer, and ale.
Chorus
From Illinois During the Gilded Age site at
http://dig.lib.niu.edu/gildedage/songs/kingalcohol.html. Audio available.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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Song 50. To the tune of “Wait for the Wagon”
WILL you sign the pledge, poor drunkard? we wish to set you free
From appetite and passion, and custom's slavery;
Strong drink has been your ruin we ask you to abstain;
Come throw down the bottle, and never drink again.
Throw down the bottle, throw down the bottle,
Throw down the bottle, and never drink again.
Oh, your wife will smile with gladness to know that you have signed:
She'll bid adieu to sadness, for comfort she will find;
Within your home what pleasure what happiness will reign;
Then throw down the bottle, and never drink again.
Oh, your children, too, will bless you, they'll dance with very glee,
And joyfully caress you, as they climb upon your knee;
Their little eyes will sparkle, as they sing the joyous strain,
We've thrown down the bottle, and we'll never drink again,
Then come along, my brother, tho' fallen you may rise;
You then may help another who now in bondage lies;
The best of men will bless you; you will not live in vain;
So, throw down the bottle, and never drink again.
The Temperance Songster; a Collection of Songs and Hymns for All Temperance
Societies at the Library of Congress at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/svy:@field(DOCID+@lit(tmps50))
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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Song 95. To the tune of “Come Home Father”
FATHER, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes one;
You said you were coming right home from the shop
As soon as your day's work was done.
Our fire has gone out--our house is all dark,
And mother's been watching since tea,
With poor brother Benny so sick in her arms
And no one to help her but me.
Come home! come home! come home!
Please, father, dear father, come home!
Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes two;
The night has grown colder--and Benny is worse-But he has been calling for you.
Indeed he is worse--Ma says he will die,
Perhaps before morning shall dawn!
And this is the message she sent me to bring,
Come quickly or he will be gone!
Father, dear father, come home with me now!
The clock in the steeple strikes three;
The house is so lonely--the hours are so long,
For poor weeping mother and me.
Yes, we are alone--poor Benny is dead!
And gone with the angels of light:
And these were the very last words that he said,
"I want to kiss Papa to-night?"
Come home! come home! come home!
Please, father, dear father, come home!
Hear the sweet voice of the child
Which the night winds repeat as they roam
Oh, who could resist this most plaintive of prayers,
Please, father, dear father, come home!
From The Temperance Songster; a Collection of Songs and Hymns for All Temperance
Societies at the Library of Congress, at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/svy:@field(DOCID+@lit(tmps95))
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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Song 99. To the tune of “Miss Bundy’s Wedding”
Oh, I am a Temperance man,
And my heart is filled with glee,
For I've signed the temperance pledge,
And from alcohol I'm free:
I'll never touch or taste
The poisoned cup again;
From all that can intoxicate
Forever I'll abstain;
For I am a temperance man, &c.
Since I put my name to the pledge,
The pimples have left my nose,
And, instead of having rags to my back,
I now have plenty of clothes:
I once had but one meal a day,
And sometimes I got none;
But now, although I always eat three,
Yet in debt I never run;
For I am a temperance man, &c.
When I drank rum, the pretty girls
With me could not agree;
But now I stick to the temp'rance pledge,
And they all stick to me:
Once people all looked black at me,
And called me drunken Jake;
But now they touch their hats, and say,
Your servant, Mr. Blake;
For I am a temperance man, &c.
Then haste ye, all, and quickly sign
Our pledge of liberty,
And break the chains of alcohol,
And be forever free:
Then gather round your social hearths,
And hymns of gladness sing,
For alcohol is at last dethroned,
And is no longer king.
For we are temperance men, &c.
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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From The Temperance Songster; a Collection of Songs and Hymns for All Temperance
Societies at the Library of Congress, at
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/svy:@field(DOCID+@lit(tmps99))
©2003 Illinois During the Gilded Age Digitization Project.
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