Comments on: “Don’t Be a Forgetter, Write the Soldier Boy a Letter”

By: Allison

Allison — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:41:07 +0000

Thanks again Phantom! Always nice to have the music !!

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:56:06 +0000

The whole thing — words and music — screams 1918 to me. The tempo of the recording may not be the suggested march tempo, but it conjures up images of 19-year-old girls with fluffy hairdos and the last long and lacy dresses before the flapper era singing melancholy songs around the piano about their soldier boyfriends being far away.

By: David Y.

David Y. — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:26:57 +0000

This was fun. I agree, the tempo is a little sluggish to be considered a “fervent march tempo.” Anyhow, it’s fun to hear the music while reading the text.

It is a little surprising to me that the piece appeared in a hymnal. Then again, the underlying sentiment is universal.

(Note the phrase “He is training for the battle,
That shall set the nations [plural] free” — To me, this sounds very 1918!)

By: Clark

Clark — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:23:20 +0000

Thanks Phantom, for the music; it adds so much to the post. (It would be perfect accompaniment to a Ken Burns Documentary filled with grainy black and white photos of troopships full of “doughboys”.)

And I heartily second Mark B’s comments about letters. I’m writing a biogrpahy about the grandfather I never knew. The carbon copies he made of his letters (to politicians, hobby societies, church leaders, and friends) have proved invaluable. I’m quite thankful phone calls were so expensive back in the day.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:36:47 +0000

Two quick comments:

I wonder, if Bro. Kimball wanted the thing sung at “Fervent March Tempo”, why he didn’t mark it in cut time. If I could play the piano, I’d try it 1.5 to 2 times the speed the Phantom played it, to see if it would be singable.

As to writing letters–the world’s future historians will love you if you do. You don’t need a brother/son/sister/friend in the army (or on a mission). Write it anyway, and keep copies!