Abraham, Martin, John

1
Abraham, Martin, John

• By Dick Holler

2
Dick Holler - Biography

• Dick Holler is an American
  singer/songwriter born on October 16th, 1934 in
  Indianapolis, Indiana. He moved to Baton Rouge,
  Louisiana in 1951 and it was there that he began
  his music career. He learned how to play the
  piano in college, at LSU, and started organizing
  bands with his friends. After being a part of a
  few bands, but still writing songs, he wrote the
  famous song, Snoopy vs. the Red Baron with his
  former producer Phil Gerhard. This hit number
  two on the top charts while being performed by
  other various bands in 1967. Then, Hollers
  Abraham, Martin, and John, performed by Dion
  Dimucci, made the top five on the song charts.
  The song became so popular that it was covered by
  about 20 artists, including Bob Dylan, Garth
  Brooks, and Ray Charles. Ace Collins, the author
  of Songs Sung in Red, White, and Blue The
  Stories Behind Americas Best-Loved Patriotic
  Songs, once said that, In just four versus and a
  chorus, it became much more than just another
  folk-pop standard. He went on to say that, The
  song did not give answers, but rather pointed out
  that the ones that might have had those answers
  had been needlessly killed. This song was what
  gave Dick Holler most of his fame. As a result
  of his successful career, he was later inducted
  into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (Aswell).
• Useful links
• www.dickholler.com
• http//louisianamusichalloffame.org/content/view/4
  5/81/

3
Lyrics

• Has anybody here seen my old friend
  Abraham?Can you tell me where he's gone?He
  freed a lot of people,But it seems the good die
  young,But I just looked around and he's gone.
  Has anybody here seen my old friend John?Can you
  tell me where he's gone?He freed a lot of
  people,But it seems the good die young,But I
  just looked around and he's gone.
• Has anybody here seen my old friend
  Martin?Can you tell me where he's gone?He freed
  a lot of people,But it seems the good die
  young,But I just looked around and he's gone.
• Has anybody here seen my old friend
  Bobby?Can you tell me where he's gone?I thought
  I saw him walkin'Up over the hill,With Abraham,
  Martin and John.

Back
4
Abraham

• Is referring to Abraham Lincoln, the 18th
  president of the United States
• Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in
  Kentucky, even though he grew up in Illinois. He
  was a captain in the army in the Black Hawk War
  of 1832, and then got into Illinois politics
  after the war. He eventually became president in
  1860. The Civil War started in 1861, and Lincoln
  later issued the Emancipation Proclamation on
  January 1, 1863. He was then re-elected in
  1864, a year before the end of the Civil War.
  Unfortunately, he was then assassinated on April
  14, 1865, by John Wilkes Booth.
• Useful links
• http//www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abraham
  lincoln/
• http//lincoln.lib.niu.edu/abio.html

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5
Emancipation Proclamation

• Was the most important advancement that Lincoln
  did for the country during his presidency.
• The Emancipation Proclamation, written on January
  1, 1863, boldly stated "that all persons held as
  slaves within the rebellious states are, and
  henceforward shall be free." Although it only
  applied to the states that seceded from the
  Union, this inspired many people, and led to the
  freeing of the slaves with each advance of the
  Unions army during the war. The Proclamation
  also allowed African Americans to be a part of
  the Unions army, so that they could fight
  against the South, and liberate more slaves.
• Useful links
• http//www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_document
  s/emancipation_proclamation/
• http//www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org/

Back to Abraham
6
Martin

• Is referring to Martin Luther King Jr.
• Martin Luther King Jr. was perhaps the most
  important civil rights activist in US history.
  He was born on January 15, 1929, and died on
  April 4, 1968. He was a very successful student,
  graduating his segregated highschool at the age
  of 15, and continuing on his education through
  college and graduate school at Boston University.
  He studied theology and became a preacher and a
  renowned civil rights activist. He also became a
  member of the executive committee of the NAACP.
  He was then the leader of the first big
  nonviolent segregation protest in US history,
  with the Montgomery bus boycott. He persisted,
  regardless of his home being bombed, and his
  arrest. He led many other peaceful protests, and
  encouraged peaceful ways through his famous I
  Have A Dream speech. Eventually won the nobel
  peace prize in 1964. Unfortunately, he was
  assassinated on April 4, 1968.
• Useful links
• http//nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates
  /1964/king-bio.html
• http//www.thekingcenter.org/Default.aspx

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7
Civil Rights

• The Civil Rights movement took place during the
  first half century of the 1900s, and continued
  on through, peaking from about 1955 to 1964. Sit
  ins, peaceful marches, and other various protests
  were used to gain equal rights for all races.
  Martin Luther King Jr. was perhaps the most
  important leader of this movement, organizing
  many sit ins, and marches. The Civil Rights act
  of 1964 officially ended segregation by
  desegregating schools, the work place, and
  voting.
• Useful links
• http//www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flasholddoc
  97
• http//www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-ri
  ghts-act/

Back to Martin
8
John

• Is referring to John F. Kennedy
• Kennedy (JFK) was extremely ambitious and
  successful, as he graduated from Harvard
  University in 1940. He joined the military in
  1941, and was stationed in the Pacific during
  WWII, he was injured in battle, and was allowed
  to come home. He eventually worked his way into
  the House of Representatives, and later became
  president in 1961. He also unsuccessfully worked
  to convince congress to pass laws against
  segregation. He also led the country through the
  Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the
  closest the world has come to nuclear war.
• Useful links
• http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkennedyJ.h
  tm
• http//www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jfk.htm

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9
Bobby

• Is referring to Robert F. Kennedy, JFKs brother.
• Was born in 1925 in Brookline, Massachusetts
• He also enrolled in Harvard University, but then
  joined the Navy for WWII. After, he finished his
  degree at the University of Virginia.
• He served as Attorney General in his brothers
  cabinet.
• In 1964, he ran for the senate of New York, and
  won.
• He spoke out against injustice and prejudice, and
  was a strong advocate of Civil Rights for African
  Americans and Native Americans.
• He ran for president in 1968, but was
  assassinated before he could, on June 6th, 1968,
  just as he won the California democratic primary.
• "I do not run for the Presidency merely to oppose
  any man but to propose new policies. I run
  because I am convinced that this country is on a
  perilous course and because I have such strong
  feelings about what must be done, and I feel that
  I'm obliged to do all I can."
• Useful links
• http//bobby-kennedy.com/rfkbiography.htm
• http//www.arlingtoncemetery.net/rfk.htm

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10
Literary Critiques

• Holler used an Anaphora, or the repetition of
  words or phrases, throughout the lyrics.
• -Ex. Can you tell me where he's gone?He freed a
  lot of people,But it seems the good die
  young,But I just looked around and he's gone.
• Has anybody here seen my old friend
  Martin?Can you tell me where he's gone?He freed
  a lot of people,But it seems the good die
  young,But I just looked around and he's gone.
• Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
• Although the lyrics didnt rhyme very much, John,
  and gone are one of the few rhymes Holler did use

Back to lyrics
11
Literary Critiques

• Robert Bobby F. Kennedy, for some reason, isnt
  mentioned in the title with Abraham, Martin, and
  John.
• Martin, John, and Bobby all died in the same
  decade, but Abraham died in 1865. This is very
  unusual, because the song was written exclusively
  because of the then recent assassinations of
  Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and
  Robert Bobby F. Kennedy.

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12
Literary Critiques Continued

• Holler used dialect at the end of the song, with
  walkin. This was either because he thought it
  flowed better in the song, or because he was from
  Louisiana, and he actually had an accent.
• The hill represents the gates of heaven.
• Bobby Kennedy is listed last because he was the
  last one to die
• All of the men were listed in the chronological
  order of their assassinations.

Works Cited Page 1 Works Cited Page 2
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13
Bibliography

• "Abraham Lincoln." www.WhiteHouse.gov.
  WhiteHouse.gov, n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.
  lthttp//www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/abraha
  mlincoln/gt.
• Aswell, Tom. Dick Holler. Louisiana Music Hall of
  Fame. Ed. Tom Aswell. State of      Louisiana,
  n.d. Web. 19 May 2010. lthttp//louisianamusichallo
  ffame.org/      content/view/45/81/gt.
• "Civil Rights Act (1964)." www.ourdocuments.gov.
  N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.      lthttp//www.our
  documents.gov/doc.php?flasholddoc97gt.
• "Martin Luther King - Biography". Nobelprize.org.
  1 Jun 2010 http//nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/pea
  ce/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
• "The Emancipation Proclamation."
  www.archives.gov. National Archives, n.d. Web.
       1 June 2010. lthttp//www.archives.gov/exhibi
  ts/featured_documents/      emancipation_proclama
  tion/gt.
• R.F.K. Biography. www.bobby-kennedy.com. N.p.,
  n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.      lthttp//bobby-kennedy
  .com/rfkbiography.htmgt.
• Simkin, John. John F. Kennedy Biography.
  www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Ed.      John
  Simkin. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.
       lthttp//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAken
  nedyJ.htmgt.

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Bibliography of Images

• Abraham Lincoln Portrait. 19th century. "Abraham
  Lincoln Biography." Magazine      USA n. pag.
  Web. 1 June 2010. lthttp//www.magazineusa.com/us/i
  nfo/      show.aspx?unithistorydoc216dscAbra
  ham-Lincoln-Biographygt.
• Billboard Award. December 14, 1968.
  www.dickholler.com. Web. 1 June 2010.
       lthttp//www.dickholler.com/photos.htmlgt.
• Bobby Kennedy Campaign Pin. 1968.
  bobby-kennedy.com. Web. 1 June 2010.
       lthttp//bobby-kennedy.com/rfkbiography.htmgt.
  
• Dick Holler The Piano Man. N.d.
  www.dickholler.com. SmartRange Ltd., 2007. Web.
       1 June 2010. lthttp//www.dickholler.com/phot
  os.htmlgt.
• Dick Holler with his Piano. N.d.
  www.dickholler.com. SmartRange Ltd., n.d. Web.
       1 June 2010. lthttp//www.dickholler.comgt.
• Emancipation Proclamation. N.d. The National
  Archives, Washington D.C.      www.archives.gov.
  Web. 1 June 2010. lthttp//www.archives.gov/
       exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_pro
  clamation/images/      emancipation_01.jpggt.
• John F. Kennedy Speech. N.d. top-10-list.org. Top
  10 List, n.d. Web. 1 June      2010.
  lthttp//top-10-list.org/2009/08/24/
       assassinations-that-shook-the-world/gt.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Speech. N.d.
  www.d.umn.edu. University of Minnesota
       Diluth, n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.
  lthttp//www.d.umn.edu/mull0323/
       CivilRightsWebquest.htmgt.
• Martin Luther King Portrait. N.d. nobelprize.org.
  The Nobel Foundation, 1964.   1 June 2010.
  lthttp//nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureate
  s/      1964/king-bio.htmlgt.    Web.