Election Songs

BUCK PAYING HIS ADDRESSES

Air: Lucy Long

To the North:

 

Had I been there to fight it,

But you know I wasn't there ;

And if you want to right it

Let me have Pierce's chair.

 

To the South:

 

I could not then endorse it,

For you know / wasn't there;

But if you would enforce it

Let me have Pierce's chair.

 

 

To both:

 

I'm just the man to suit you,

You see I wasn't there,

And you have heard explicitly

The views that I declare.

 

To the North:

 

For Kansas "Devil take 'em!

Missouri was the price,

Just vote for me and I'll make 'em

Restore it in a trice.

 

To the South:

Ay, Kansas "Devil take 'em!

You only got one price;

If you vote for me I'll make 'em

Plank down their purchase twice!

 

To both:

 

So I'm the man to suit you,

You see I wasn't there;

And you have heard explicitly

The views that I declare.

 

Analysis: The God Janus is often portrayed as having two-faces. James Buchanan was accused of trying to appeal to both the North and the South, changing his message based upon the sectional audience.