John Brown’s Body (2022 Swing Remix)

This video is a section of the song “John Brown's Body,” 2022 Remix," by the John Brown Project band. John Brown's Body was a popular Civil War song written by Union soldiers about a young Sergent of the same name, but it was quickly rewritten to honor the abolitionist John Brown. The song was rewritten again by Julia Ward Howe into "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for less-than-flattering reasons. Everyone knows the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but nobody knows that its roots are in equality.

Our updated version of “John Brown’s Body” explores American music styles from 1619 to hip-hop. We rewrote the lyrics of William Weston Patton to give them 21st-century meaning. There are about seven sections to the song, each featuring a different style of American music. All told it is a twelve-minute song; this is the two-minute swing part. (you're gonna love it)

Performed by:

• Ysanne Marshall, vocals

• Mick Connolly, drums and bass

• Johnny Davis, keyboards

This video is a segment of the musical documentary film His Truth Is Marching On, produced by The John Brown Project in 2022 as a Culture 4 A Cause initiative. You owe it to yourself to watch that movie: https://youtu.be/TS4h-8cbCKE

Fun fact: we recorded Johnny Davis playing the keys for this early in the recording process before we knew who would sing the song. We asked Ysanne to come in to sing it, and that’s when we found out what a soldier she is. We had arbitrarily chosen exactly the wrong key, but she worked it anyway. After watching her suffer for a few minutes, we decided to bring Johnny Back to play it in E flat, her preferred key, which he did, and she nailed it.

Mick Connolly, a rock and roll guitar god, learned how to play swing bass and drums to fill in the session. We are eternally grateful to all of them for their hard work, dedication, and willingness to try new things for the sake of art.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!