We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

duncan's gun

from refusing to view by david edward walker

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1.50 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

lyrics

Duncan’s Gun

I’m signing off this letter “Captain James E. Northrup,”
My commission earned of losses we’ve incurred
In these bloodiest days we’ve yet had to face
At the Battle of Petersburg

As to the sum total of my fears to date,
I have left them where the ground has turned red
Where I laid myself low with my fallen brethren
Praying Johnny Reb would think me dead

And herein, you will find a Rebel pistol
Stolen from Virginia, I believe
With an etching on the cylinder
Of a stagecoach robbery
And a reference to the “Colt Arms Factory”

And I swear when I get back home to you
Duncan’s gun we’ll polish clean and blue
He said he was a bridegroom too
Until a Union sniper shot him through and through

We’d heard of many giving their lives to the struggle
To save our mighty Union, my dear;
By the time we were called upon to give up our young
I was a soldier in the New York Volunteers

Our regiment made a bivouac all around Deer Bottom Flat
At the last Rebel stand at Fort Gregg
And I and two more snuck beneath the hostile fire
Not just to talk to Captain Duncan, but to beg

I had heard that he was a “man of honor,”
A term used in war but ill-applied
And he stuck that pistol in the middle of my forehead
And said, “Yankee, you’re about to lose your mind.”

But I being so inclined by the dirty stench of death
Said only, “Then three thousand more shall die.
By the click on the trigger of your black powder pistol,
How many sweethearts will you leave behind to cry?”

And I swear when I get back home to you
Duncan’s gun we’ll polish clean and blue
He said he was a bridegroom too
Until a Union sniper shot him through and through

credits

from refusing to view, released December 1, 1996
david edward walker: guitars, vocal
dan kolton: upright bass
alan finkbeiner: drums

david edward walker: guitars, vocals
pete peltier: fretless bass
gayelynn mckinney: drums
murray stewart jones: djembe

produced by alan finkbeiner & jan krist, recorded at the boneyard, warren, michigan, ben ridley, sound engineer

license

tags

about

david edward walker image

david edward walker Indianola, Washington

"With a style that encompasses urban and rural images, rich metaphors, spiritual themes, moving ballads, and ambitious fingerstyle guitar work, David Edward Walker (aka 'David Folks') is a singer-songwriter with special ability to reach listeners on an emotional level."
~ Music Hound,
The Essential Folk Album Guide

"Spilled poetic love." ~ Dirty Linen

"Folk Hero."
~Detroit Monthly ... more

contact / help

Contact david edward walker

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like david edward walker, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Beans joins the show to discuss his album release, "ZWAARD".

listen now