"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (AKA
Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye, and
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya) is a popular
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
traditional anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the
British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. The original refers to the soldiers from
AthyAthy Athy Athy ( – is a market town situated at the convergence of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometers southwest of Dublin....
,
County KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
that fought in "Sulloon" (Ceylon - now
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
) for the East India Company. It has become a definitive anti-war song.
Discussion
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"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (AKA
Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye, and
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya) is a popular
IrishIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
traditional anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the
British East India CompanyThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. The original refers to the soldiers from
AthyAthy Athy Athy ( – is a market town situated at the convergence of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometers southwest of Dublin....
,
County KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
that fought in "Sulloon" (Ceylon - now
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
) for the East India Company. It has become a definitive anti-war song.
Patrick GilmorePatrick Sarsfield Gilmore was an Irish-born composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. Whilst serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Gilmore wrote the lyrics to the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the tune he took from an old Irish antiwar folk...
, author of American popular song "
When Johnny Comes Marching Home"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.-Origins:...
" (1863), said in 1883 that "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" was the basis for "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." At least one author has disputed this statement; see "
When Johnny Comes Marching Home"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.-Origins:...
" for further discussion.
Variations
- The repeating chorus line "With your drums and guns and drums and guns" is sometimes sung as "With your drums and guns and guns and drums," or "We had guns and drums and drums and guns," as in the Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended traditional folk rock and punk rock known as Celtic punk...
version.
- "Why did ye run from me and the child?" sometimes replaces "Why did ye skedaddle from me and the child?"
- "Where are the legs with which you run?" sometimes replaces "Where are the legs that used to run?"
- Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span is a British electric folk band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
recorded an adaptation of the song, called "Fighting for strangers" on their album Rocket CottageRocket Cottage is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.This was the band's 9th album, and the 2nd produced by Mike Batt. The album was poised to cement the band's success, building off their breakthrough into the UK Top 10 with their previous album, All Around My Hat . Unfortunately,...
. Their version is substantially different, but bears the refrain "Johnny, what've they done to you" or "Johnny what'll happen to you". The other similarity is in the last verse
You haven't an arm, you haven't a leg
The enemy nearly slew you
You'll have to go out on the streets to beg
Oh, poor Johnny, what've they done to you?
Reusage of the title
- A book by Kenneth O'Donnell
Kenneth Phillip O'Donnell was a top aide to U.S. President John F. Kennedy and part of the group of Kennedys' close advisors called the "Irish Mafia." He was the son of famed Holy Cross football coach and athletic director Cleo O'Donnell, as well as the father of Earthlink co-founder Kevin M...
and David PowersDavid Francis Powers was Special Assistant and assistant Appointments Secretary to President of the United States John F. Kennedy. Powers served as Museum Curator of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum from 1964 until his retirement in May 1994. Powers was a military veteran who had served in...
about the truncated presidency of John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
was titled, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye. It was published in 1972.
Select Recordings
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- 1961 - The Chad Mitchell Trio
- 1993 - Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
- Rare, Live & ClassicRare, Live & Classic was a 1993 box set compilation by Joan Baez. Released on Vanguard, where Baez had recorded her most influential work during the first twelve years of her career, the set also included material from her subsequent record labels, A&M, Columbia and Gold Castle Records, as well as...
- Folk singer Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
often included the song in her concert sets during the early to mid 1970's as a statement against the Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
and all wars in general.
- 1995 - Various artists - Die Hard With a Vengeance (OST
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
)
- 1997 - Chad Mitchell Trio
The Chad Mitchell Trio was an American folk music group during the 1960s. The group became known for their willingness to perform both serious and satirical songs that criticized current events and news-makers, unlike the typical 'folk music' groups of their time.-Beginnings and membership...
- The Chad Mitchell Trio Collection: Original Kapp Recordings
- 2007 - The Tossers
The Tossers are a six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in the early '90s and have a large cult following but have recently started to move into the spotlight. They have toured with Lost City Angels, Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The...
- Communication & Conviction: Last Seven YearsCommunication & Conviction: Last Seven Years is a compilation album by The Tossers. It was released in 2001 on Thick Records.- Track listing :# "Young Ned Of The Hill" - 2.33# "Maidrin Rua/Tell Me Ma" - 3.41# "Seven Drunken Nights" - 4.00...
- The Tossers
The Tossers are a six-piece Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in the early '90s and have a large cult following but have recently started to move into the spotlight. They have toured with Lost City Angels, Murphy's Law, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, Dropkick Murphys, The...
recorded a version of this song in the 90s, and it was later included on the compilation Communication & Conviction: Last Seven YearsCommunication & Conviction: Last Seven Years is a compilation album by The Tossers. It was released in 2001 on Thick Records.- Track listing :# "Young Ned Of The Hill" - 2.33# "Maidrin Rua/Tell Me Ma" - 3.41# "Seven Drunken Nights" - 4.00...
, which includes everything they have done before 2000. They recorded another live version on March 17, 2008. It was included on their live album Gloatin' and Showboatin': Live on St. Patrick's Day.
- 2007 - Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended traditional folk rock and punk rock known as Celtic punk...
- The Meanest of TimesThe Meanest of Times is the sixth album by the Dropkick Murphys. It was released on September 18, 2007 by their new vanity label, Born & Bred Records, a division of Cooking Vinyl Records...
- The Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an Irish-American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA. First playing together in the basement of a friend's barbershop, they blended traditional folk rock and punk rock known as Celtic punk...
included a version of this song on their 2007 release, The Meanest of TimesThe Meanest of Times is the sixth album by the Dropkick Murphys. It was released on September 18, 2007 by their new vanity label, Born & Bred Records, a division of Cooking Vinyl Records...
and was later selected as a downloadable song for Guitar Hero III: Legends of RockGuitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game developed by Neversoft and eaten by Activision and RedOctane. It is the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 in October 2007...
on March 13, 2008. The song was also featured in an episode of the Sons of AnarchySons of Anarchy is an American television drama series created by Kurt Sutter about the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in Northern California. The show centers on protagonist Jackson "Jax" Teller , a young member of the club who begins...
TV series.
- 2008 - Karan Casey
Karan Casey is an Irish folk singer, and a former member of the Irish band Solas.-Early years:Casey was born in Ballyduff Lower, Kilmeaden, County Waterford, Ireland. Her family encouraged her to sing in the house, in a church choir and at school. At Waterford Regional Technical College she...
- Ships in the ForestShips in the Forest is a studio album by Irish traditional singer Karan Casey, and the first to be released primarily on her own label. The album features much of Casey's live band, as well as her brother-in-law and husband, both members of the band Buille. The album features one song in Gaelic and...
- A cover of the song is performed by Faye Ringel
Faye Ringel is a former American professor of Humanities at the United States Coast Guard Academy and an author.She received a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. from Brown University in Comparative Literature with Patterns of the Hero and the Quest in...
on her album "Hot Chestnuts".
- Foreign Feathers perform a version
- The Cranberries
The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan...
, in "Zombie", sing "With their tanks and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns" - a reference to the chorus of this song.