After the Confederacy's loss to the U.S. in the American Civil War, "I'm a Good Ol' Rebel" was created as a poem by former Confederate major James Innes Randolph in the 1860s. Its music was based upon the Minstrel song "Joe Bowers". It is not known who initially created the music, with a claim in 1864 attributing it to "J.R.T." and an 1866 sheet music copy ironically dedicating it to Thad Stevens.
"I'm a Good Ol' Rebel" was first published as a poem locally in Maryland in 1898 but was published as a song nationwide in the April 4, 1914 edition of Collier's Weekly. The song is anti-American in tone, expressing hatred towards the U.S. and its national symbols such as the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Declaration of Independence. It reflected a view held by some ex-Confederates who were reluctant to accept Reconstruction with the United States and an expression of the bitterness and anger they felt after the Confederacy had lost the American Civil War to the U.S. However, it is speculated that the song did not reflect Randolph's personal views and was intended "... to illustrate the irreconcilable spirit of the illiterate in some sections", as it had been sung and passed through oral tradition throughout Southern bars.
The published version initially contained only four verses, but individual performers have added their own verses to reflect their own opinions on the United States.
In 1991, a version was released on the Songs of the Civil War album performed by Hoyt Axton
Lyrics
Oh, I'm a good old rebel
Now thats just what I am
And for this yankee nation
I do no give a damn
I'm glad I fought against her
I only wish we'd won
I ain't asked any pardon
For anything I've done
I hates the Yankee nation
And eveything they do
I hates the declaration
Of independence too
I hates the glorious union
'Tis dripping with our blood
I hates the striped banner
And fought it all I could
I rode with Robert E. Lee
For three years there about
Got wounded in four places
And I starved at Point Lookout
I caught the rheumatism
Campin' in the snow
But I killed a chance of Yankees
And I'd like to kill some more
Three hundred thousand Yankees
Is stiff in southern dust
We got three hundred thousand
Before they conquered us
They died of southern fever
And southern steel and shot
I wish they was three million
Instead of what we got
I can't take up my musket
And fight 'em down no more
But I ain't a-goin' to love them
Now that is certain sure
And I don't want no pardon
For what I was and am
I won't be reconstructed
And I do not give a damn
Oh, I'm a good old rebel
Now that's just what I am
And for this Yankee nation
I do no give a damn
I'm glad I fought against her
I only wish we'd won
I ain't asked any pardon
For anything I've done
I ain't asked any pardon
For anything I've done....
