Remember the days of “teachable moments”? Well, last night’s Saturday Night Live skit, “Civil War Soldiers,” from the Jimmy Fallon episode, provides just that, especially if you’re interested in “War Songs.” It’s almost as if the writers had a secret peek into books like Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in America During the Civil War. Instead of nitpicking comedic liberties, it’s fascinating how much this skit resonates with actual Civil War history, particularly concerning soldier music and “war songs.” While it’s unlikely anyone at SNL was referencing scholarly texts, the skit’s surprising historical accuracy regarding musical culture in Civil War armies is undeniable. Let’s explore how this skit reflects the reality of “war songs” and musical morale during the Civil War – hopefully without losing all the humor in the process.
The skit’s setup is historically sound. Union soldiers are depicted around a campfire at night. One soldier, played by Alex Moffat, expresses the hardships of war and the fear of being unrecognizable to his family upon returning home – a sentiment echoed by many veterans throughout history. Another soldier, Beck Bennett’s character, weary of the complaints, suggests a song to lift spirits. They choose a fictional tune, “Old New York,” and Bennett begins singing a song remarkably similar to actual Civil War “war songs.” Thematically, it echoes the famous “Battle Cry of Freedom,” focusing on enlistment and fighting for the Union cause. Crucially, the song is explicitly intended to “put the fight back in ya,” highlighting a core purpose of music for soldiers during wartime – boosting morale through “war songs.” Furthermore, “Old New York” blends wartime motivation with longing for home, a common theme in many authentic Civil War soldier songs. Credit to the SNL writers – “Old New York” could easily pass as a genuine “war song” from a Civil War songbook.
Things take a comedic, yet still historically relevant, turn when Jimmy Fallon’s character improvises a new chorus. Playing to Fallon’s strengths, his soldier belts out an absurdly anachronistic, Taylor Swift-esque “Big, Fat Hook” about partying at his parents’ house “until the pills wear off.” Humor aside, this improvisation, both lyrically and melodically, surprisingly mirrors a key aspect of Civil War musical culture and “war songs.”
Improvisation was central to how Civil War soldiers engaged with and performed music, including their “war songs.” Soldiers frequently adapted popular tunes to express their ever-changing political and emotional states. Fallon’s character, in essence, does just that – he transcends the bleakness of their situation by singing about happier times back home, albeit in a ridiculously out-of-time manner. The other soldiers eventually joining in also rings true. These improvised lyrics and alterations to “war songs” were often adopted by comrades and sometimes even evolved into widely popular songs themselves, with “John Brown’s Body” being a prime example of a “war song” born from such improvisations. Bennett’s initial resistance to Fallon’s lyrics also has historical grounding, as soldier-created “war songs” and lyrical variations often sparked debate, reflecting differing ideologies and levels of morale within the ranks. To be clear, “Party At My Parents House” wouldn’t have been sung in Union camps, but the underlying process of adapting and improvising “war songs” for personal and collective expression is historically accurate.
The skit even concludes with a touch of sectional reconciliation. A Confederate POW, played by Harry Styles, breaks free and joins in the singing. Fallon’s absurdly catchy lyrics prove so appealing that Styles adds a line expanding the partying “north and south.” Again, the political and historical implications might be unintentional. However, it perhaps speaks to the enduring theme of reconciliation in Civil War memory that it became a natural endpoint for the skit, even within the context of “war songs.”
Ultimately, it’s not every day you can analyze an SNL skit for its surprisingly accurate portrayal of Civil War soldier morale, 19th-century singing culture, and even sectional reconciliation, all through the lens of “war songs.” But this skit offered an unexpected, and humorous, “teachable moment” about the role of music and “war songs” in shaping soldier experience during the Civil War.
