Temperance songs

Temperance songs are those musical compositions that were sung and performed to promote the Temperance Movement from the 1840s to the 1920s. It was a distinct genre of American music. In the early 19th century, the yearly per capita consumption of alcohol in the US was as high as 3.9 USgal liter in the 1830s. In response, many temperance organizations formed over the next eighty years. Some temperance song lyrics were sung with already well-known songs of the period, for example, “Oh! Susanna”. This Stephen Foster melody was used with lyrics in support of temperance and the title changed to “There’s A Good Time Coming,” in 1857, ten years after the publication of the original lyrics of “Oh! Susanna”. Development and genre history A consistent theme within temperance songs of 19th and 20th century society was that drinking negatively impacted a stable family life and that it was at the center of much suffering. “Molly and the Baby Don’t You Know” is about a father promising not to drink for the sake of his young child and suffering wife. Some temperance songs were intended to produce guilt about the consequences of alcohol consumption. Themes including abuse were common, such as “Th