This is the third version of a song I first wrote in 2011.
Mike LeBlanc mentioned the name of a Hibiscus flower named "Confederate Rose" that changed colour from white to red as it faded and suggested it could make a song. I quickly looked it up and learned of the legend of it being used in the absence of field dressings in the American civil war.
Couldn't resist the challenge then and I've just given it more of a folk treatment than the last two versions .

Apologies for not listing the BIAB tracks. I changed them so often that
I lost track of which ones I muted and which I used.
Vic
. https://soundcloud.com/vic-arnold/confederate-rose-2?si=4729b7924d514cdb9816ec1d4bfdf32b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Confederate Rose © 2011 Vic Arnold
V1
In a corner of this battlefield a pretty flower shines
My eyes are drawn from shot and shell that pounds our staggering lines
I see the rifle aimed at me between the blossoms fair
We fire together him and I and close our eyes in prayer
V2
The battle rages through the day. We cause the foe to run.
We catch our breath and walk around to see what we have done.
I come across the hedge of flowers splashed with crimson stain
The young boy's eyes are closed. He'll never open them again.
Ch.
Confederate rose changes her clothes
and turns from white to red.
She soaks up the blood that runs like a flood
Through this valley of the dead
V3
The autumn comes again
and to this valley, I
Now gold and yellow leaves have covered where that young man died
I place a white bloom on his grave and pay the tribute due
to my brother who was dressed in grey when I was dressed in blue
Ch.
Inst.
Br.
Mama died of broken heart but forgave me I suppose.
And Daddy still tends the garden and that old confederate rose.
Ch.
Confederate rose changes her clothes
and turns from white to red.
She soaks up the blood that runs like a flood
Through this valley of the dead