When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Encyclopedia
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again") 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.
" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" share the same melodic material. Based on internal textual references, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" apparently dates from the early 1820s, while "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was first published in 1863. It was sung by both sides of the Civil War. It was used as a motivation song that told the soldiers what happens when the war is over.
As with much folk music of this period, many variants in text and music appear as the song is transmitted orally and subject to many external influences. Primacy of one version over another is difficult to prove conclusively because most versions were never written down or published. James Fuld in The Book of World Famous Music (p. 640) indicates that some believe the melody is not Irish in origin.
The lyrics to "Johnny Comes Marching Home," written by Irish-American bandleader
Patrick Gilmore
and published under the pseudonym 'Louis Lambert', effectively reverse those of "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", in which Johnny returns home blind and crippled, to the woman and children he abandoned in order to go to Sri Lanka
to serve in the British Army for the East India Company
.
Gilmore wrote the song for his sister Annie as she prayed for the safe return of her fiancé, Union Light Artillery Captain John O'Rourke, from the Civil War.
.
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.
Origins
The Irish antiwar song "Johnny I Hardly Knew YeJohnny I Hardly Knew Ye
"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" is a popular traditional Irish anti-war and anti-recruiting song. It is generally dated to the early 19th century, when Irish troops served the British East India Company...
" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" share the same melodic material. Based on internal textual references, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" apparently dates from the early 1820s, while "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was first published in 1863. It was sung by both sides of the Civil War. It was used as a motivation song that told the soldiers what happens when the war is over.
As with much folk music of this period, many variants in text and music appear as the song is transmitted orally and subject to many external influences. Primacy of one version over another is difficult to prove conclusively because most versions were never written down or published. James Fuld in The Book of World Famous Music (p. 640) indicates that some believe the melody is not Irish in origin.
The lyrics to "Johnny Comes Marching Home," written by Irish-American bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Patrick Gilmore
Patrick Gilmore
Patrick 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...
and published under the pseudonym 'Louis Lambert', effectively reverse those of "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", in which Johnny returns home blind and crippled, to the woman and children he abandoned in order to go to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
to serve in the British Army for the East India Company
British East India Company
The 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...
.
Gilmore wrote the song for his sister Annie as she prayed for the safe return of her fiancé, Union Light Artillery Captain John O'Rourke, from the Civil War.
Other versions
Quite a few variations on the song, as well as songs set to the same tune but with different lyrics, have appeared since When Johnny Comes Marching Home was popularized. The alleged larcenous tendencies of some Union soldiers in New Orleans were parodied in the lyrics "For Bales", to the same tune. A British version appeared in 1914, with the similar title, "When Tommy Comes Marching Home."- The 1880 U. S. Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1880The United States presidential election of 1880 was largely seen as a referendum on the end of Reconstruction in Southern states carried out by the Republicans. There were no pressing issues of the day save tariffs, with the Republicans supporting higher tariffs and the Democrats supporting lower...
campaign featured a campaign song called "If the Johnnies Get Into Power". - Morton GouldMorton GouldMorton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.Born in Richmond Hill, New York, Gould was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities in improvisation and composition. His first composition was published at age six...
's classical arrangement "American Salute" of the song (1943)..
Popular culture (after 1950)
- Scottish Singer Isla St ClairIsla St ClairIsla St Clair , is a Scottish singer, actress and former game show co-host.-Early career:Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952. Her family came from North East Scotland and it was here that she spent her early years...
recorded the song in 2002 for her album Amazing Grace - anthems to inspire. The track starts with Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye and then with a drum roll, from a 19th century rope tension drum, the song changes to When Johnny Comes Marching Home. There is a rousing end when a choir joins in. - The children's songs The Ants Go Marching One By One and The Animals Went in Two by Two ('Into the Ark') re-used the tune and the refrain.
- Cookie whistles this song in the 1953 movie Stalag 17; it is sung later in the movie.
- British pop singer Adam FaithAdam FaithTerence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...
reached #5 in the UK charts with his version, called Johnny Comes Marching Home in 1960. - It is used for the Die Hard with a Vengeance end credits theme, as well as playing in the background during the gold depository heist.
- The Chad Mitchell TrioChad Mitchell TrioThe Chad Mitchell Trio were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments...
album Mighty Day on Campus (1961) includes "Johnnie," a combined version of both "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye." - A French version (without vocals) "Johnny Revient d'la Guerre" was recorded by Bérurier NoirBérurier NoirBérurier noir is a French punk band formed in Paris in 1983 by Loran , François and Dédé . They called themselves "noir" for the color of mourning and for anarchy and "Bérurier" after the character from the novels of Frédéric Dard...
, on the album Macadam Massacre (1983). - Mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
network O2, part of Telefónica Europe, started using an instrumental version of this song in a TV advertisement in the first half of 2008. It is also used as the music-on-hold track played to customers waiting to speak to O2's Customer Services. - United StatesUnited States men's national soccer teamThe United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
soccer fans sing the chorus to this song during matches as a patriotic hymn to support their national team. - In Chariots of FireChariots of FireChariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
, the band strikes up this song as the 1924 USA Olympic athletes pass the parade stand. - The song or its melody has also been used in many movie soundtracks, including Cavalcade,1933 Gone with the WindGone with the Wind (film)Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, 1939 (a Confederate military band plays it in the background of a scene taking place in Atlanta); The Great DictatorThe Great DictatorThe Great Dictator is a comedy film by Charlie Chaplin released in October 1940. Like most Chaplin films, he wrote, produced, and directed, in addition to starring as the lead. Having been the only Hollywood film maker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was...
, 1940; Yankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
, 1942; Stalag 17Stalag 17Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American airmen held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp, who come to suspect that one of their number is a traitor...
, 1953 (it is sung by American prisoners of war); The Horse SoldiersThe Horse SoldiersThe Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
, 1959; How The West Was WonHow the West Was Won (film)How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
, 1962; Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, commonly known as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and featuring Sterling...
, 1964; The Crazies, 1973; Die Hard with a Vengeance, 1995; The Second Civil WarThe Second Civil WarThe Second Civil War is a satirical/comedy film made for the HBO cable television network and first shown on March 15, 1997.Directed by Joe Dante, the film is a satire about anti-immigrant sentiment in the melting pot that is the United States....
, 1997; and AntzAntzAntz is a 1998 American computer animated action adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as...
, 1998. - This tune is also used in a chapter of Band of Brothers as a song from the 101st Airborne.
- A modified version of this tune is used in the end credits of the Japanese anime Black Lagoon Roberta's Blood Trail ending credits.
- The American Celtic-punk rock band Dropkick MurphysDropkick MurphysDropkick Murphys are an Irish-American punk rock band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The band was initially signed to independent punk record label Hellcat Records, releasing five albums for the label, and making a name for themselves locally through constant playing and yearly St....
performed "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya" on their album The Meanest of TimesThe 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...
released on September 18, 2007. - "English Civil War" is a song by British punk rock band The ClashThe ClashThe Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, featured on their second album Give 'Em Enough RopeGive 'Em Enough RopeGive 'Em Enough Rope is the second studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released on 10 November 1978 through CBS Records. It was their first album released in the United States, preceding the US version of The Clash...
. The melody of The Clash's song is derived from "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".
Lyrics
The original lyrics as written by Gilmore, are:- When Johnny comes marching home again
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- We'll give him a hearty welcome then
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- The men will cheer and the boys will shout
- The ladies they will all turn out
- And we'll all feel gay
- When Johnny comes marching home.
- The old church bell will peal with joy
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- To welcome home our darling boy,
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- The village lads and lassies say
- With roses they will strew the way,
- And we'll all feel gay
- When Johnny comes marching home.
- Get ready for the Jubilee,
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- We'll give the hero three times three,
- Hurrah! Hurrah!
- The laurel wreath is ready now
- To place upon his loyal brow
- And we'll all feel gay
- When Johnny comes marching home.
- Let love and friendship on that day,
- Hurrah, hurrah!
- Their choicest pleasures then display,
- Hurrah, hurrah!
- And let each one perform some part,
- To fill with joy the warrior's heart,
- And we'll all feel gay
- When Johnny comes marching home.
For Bales
"For Bales!", fully titled "For Bales! An O'er True Tale. Dedicated to Those Pure Patriots Who Were Afflicted with "Cotton on the Brain" and Who Saw The Elephant is a variant lyric, using the same tune. It was published in New Orleans in 1864, by A.E. Blackmar during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Lyrics
[1]
We all went down to New Orleans,
For Bales, for Bales;
We all went down to New Orleans,
For Bales, says I;
We all went down to New Orleans,
To get a peep behind the scenes,
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
[2]
We thought when we got in the "Ring",
For Bales, for Bales;
We thought when we got in the "Ring",
For Bales, says I;
We thought when we got in the "Ring",
Greenbacks would be a dead sure thing,
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
[3]
The "ring" went up, with bagging and rope,
For Bales, for Bales;
Upon the "Black Hawk" with bagging and rope,
For Bales, says I;
Went up "Red River" with bagging and rope,
Expecting to make a pile of "soap",
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
[4]
But Taylor and Smith, with ragged ranks,
For Bales, for Bales;
But Taylor and Smith, with ragged ranks,
For Bales, says I;
But Taylor and Smith, with ragged ranks,
Burned up the cotton and whipped old Banks,
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
[5]
Our "ring" came back and cursed and swore,
For Bales, for Bales;
Our "ring" came back and cursed and swore,
For Bales, says I;
Our "ring" came back and cursed and swore,
For we got no cotton at Grand Ecore,
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
[6]
Now let us all give praise and thanks,
For Bales, for Bales;
Now let us all give praise and thanks,
For Bales, says I;
Now let us all give praise and thanks,
For the victory gained by General Banks,
"And we'll all drink stone blind,
Johnny fill up the bowl".
External links
- "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" , John Terrill (E. Berliner's Gramaphone (1893)—Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia.
- "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Overview Page—Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia.
- "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Sheet Music), Oldroyd, Osbourne H. The Good Old Songs We Used to Sing, '61 to '65, —Project Gutenberg.
- MIDI and description
- Library of Congress copy, For Bales