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Song

Music written by
Lyrics written by
Copyright date
1857
Language
English
Tags
public domain
Comments
"Lorena" was one of the most popular songs in the United States immediately prior to and during the Civil War, among soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Its lyrics come from a poem Reverend Henry De Lafayette Webster, a Presbyterian minister in Zanesville, Ohio, wrote in 1856 after family opposition blocked his marriage to nineteen-year-old Ella Blocksom, who sang in his choir. After the relationship ended, he resigned his post and shortly met Joseph Philbrick Webster, who set it to music. The heroine was originally called Bertha, but the composer altered this because he needed a name with three syllables. Lorena is an adaptation of Lenore, from Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven."
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Versions

written by , English

Title Performer Release date Info
April 1939
1954
listen on Internet Archive 1954 Medley
October 1959
1959
April 1961
July 1961
1965
October 1976
1976
1977
1980
June 1, 1984
November 30, 1985
1986
November 11, 1988 Live
August 1, 1991
1991 Live
1992
July 1, 1994
1994
1996
1997 Live
Released more than 10 years after its recording
April 6, 1999
1999
2000
2003
May 25, 2004
October 2004
November 27, 2005 Live
August 22, 2007
2007
June 8, 2009
September 21, 2010
2011
November 5, 2013
November 24, 2014