Lyrics

Huzzah for the Red Stockings - D
3-25-03

-guitar picked intro of 1/2 of verse

I sing of a city divided by hills/ Of a time when the river paid all the bills
I sing of a war-torn town of unrest/ Which Longfellow coined “Queen of the West”
Eighteen hundred and sixty-nine/ The spirit of the city was in a decline
When Harry Wright and his ball-playing men
Showed this town a team that could win

Hazaa, Hazaa, Hazaa go the men
The Cincinnati Red Stockings win once again

-guitar run of chorus

The war of the states took civilized men/ Drove them to cruelty against their own kin
Old Benji Stites with Rebel flag high/ Disowned his own brother who’d gone North to fight
Five long years the feud had bled/ Till baseball united these brothers again
For down at the ballpark the brothers drank beer
And forgot the feud as together they cheered

chorus

the first dozen wins sent a buzz through the streets/ and the bakers responded with free victory sweets
the 30th win in a row gave way/ to a downtown parade of folks of all race
win number 40 broke barriers of class/ as bosses bought workers free baseball game passes
all seven hills in this Red Stocking city
sang to the players after win number 50

-guitar run of chorus

(chopping/muted guitar) The 58th game on the 14th of June/ Promised to play one more victory tune
Mayor John Torrence declared, “If they win/ I’ll build the whole town a FREE stadium
(strum guitar) The fans cheered the game into the 12th / With Cincinnati’s team one run ahead
(pause – fingerpick guitar) But somehow Brooklyn scored two runs/ And ended the streak of winning they’d sung
the team hung their cleats, leaving the town
the whole baseball city was all but struck out
(strum guitar) but just as they’d rallied before, they began
a city-wide song, and here’s what they sang

Hazaa, Hazaa, Hazaa go the men
The Cincinnati Red Stockings will win again

-guitar of chorus (w/ A minor part)
-chorus w/ just guitar strums into full chorus x2