Do any of you know who wrote the words to our alma mater? Send answers and we will see who wins. If you don't guess I will let you know.
Sara Duren Porch
Blog Administrator's Note: Below is a picture taken from our 20th Reunion Handbook.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Alma Mater Question
One more piece of history that I bet most of you don't know (and I do!).
Do any of you know who wrote the words to our alma mater? Send answers and we will see who wins. If you don't guess I will let you know.
Sara Duren Porch
Blog Administrator's Note: Below is a picture taken from our 20th Reunion Handbook.
Do any of you know who wrote the words to our alma mater? Send answers and we will see who wins. If you don't guess I will let you know.
Sara Duren Porch
Blog Administrator's Note: Below is a picture taken from our 20th Reunion Handbook.
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Sara,
ReplyDeleteHere are the words as I remember, to the tune of "hey look me over"
written by our classmate (can't remember name) who sadly died in a motorcycle crash. Great guy. I look forward to your recollections....
We are the bright class of '62
We've finished our task, and we've had fun too We've had our share of homework and tests And any way anyone looks at us, we'll always be the best because We're stacked full of knowledge, filled full of fire, We'll go to college, accomplish our desire.
We're the finishing seniors of '62 and we are full of cheer, So come on and lend an ear!
How's that?
OK. First of all, the song dates to the 19th Century, from an English family that came to the US in 1835. The tune was Aura Lee.
ReplyDeleteThen, when Elvis went to THS, he made it the class song. Later on, he called it "Love Me Tender", and made a lot of money, but it was our song first.
The lyrics, I believe, were written by the Druids when they came through Tuscaloosa in AD 1245. They saw the oak trees and wrote "Underneath the old oak trees, where the breezes blow." It was later anglicized to "where the breezes sigh" to be more poetic. I think Anna Brown changed that.
Am I close?
Col. Butler?
ReplyDeleteOK, OK!!! After reading so many emails and enjoying each one, only one got the correct answer...half way, and that was because I told her years ago. Cynthia S. almost wins but she could not remember exactly.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of you mentioned the "class song" which was not the question but answers were the same on that one.
Several guessed Col Bulter...some knew the tune origin that Anna Brown taught us, but none got it completely.
The answer is:
My aunt that I was named after-- Sara Ann Duren. I will have to find out where the info came from but it was somewhere on a web site that still has info about THS as we knew it. She died at 16 with asthma and was extremely musical, creative, loved by all...the year book in '42 was dedicated to her. She was the editor of the Black Warrior, wrote poetry...music and many other things. What a shame to lose such a fine lady.
I think it would be great to have a blog. Would someone teach me how to respond on it!!!? We even got the words to our class song that you may have forgotten too. Hopefully you all "reply all" so we all see the same thing.
Love keeping in touch. My husband, Jerry, and I will be leaving for China in November to visit our daughter and family(which includes 4 grands of our six grands...Tim Parker, your son had Jeanne Porch in the 7th grade).
Get the blog going, Jimmy.
Hey, folks,
ReplyDeleteSpurred on by all the memories, etc., I took a look at a 1914 Black Warrior that has long been in the Clements family. To return to the now long-ago (in terms of emails) challenge regarding the Alma Mater, I was looking to see if it is in that yearbook. It is not. (There are lots of poems, though.) I may have missed the 'answer' in the flurry of emails, so someone please let me know if I did. I must say that I really like Richard's wonderful account of the fine work of Stephen Foster and Elvis on behalf of THS. If I had to make a real guess about that song, I would guess that it was written in the 1920s (perhaps 1924??), which was kind of a heyday for the composition of alma maters and 'fight' songs - not to mention the construction of the 'new' high school building.
Check our htt;//www.geocities.com/blackbear602000/index.htm/ There may be a space between 60 and 2000. My brother, Jimmy Duren, found this several years ago. It even posts a picture of my Aunt Sara Duren.
ReplyDeleteI remember Henry Herman coming into homeroom one day white in the face. he had walked to school through Evergreen Cemetery and saw a tombstone that had "Sara Ann Duren" on the head stone. that was my aunt...not me...yet.
I know I am late to the show here but wanted to clarify one point in the top comment in this chain. My brother, Ray Ballard, was the Class of 62 guy who wrote the words to your class song. Yes, he unfortunately died too young in 1967 from a van vs truck accident. He was quite the poet and musician. Mark Ballard, THS '69
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ReplyDelete