When Johnny Comes Marching Home
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"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.
The tune is that of the Irish antiwar song "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", presumed to be the original on the basis of oral and textual evidence, although no published version is known to pre-date "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" [1]. The same tune is used for the children's songs "The Ants Go Marching One By One" and also "The Animals Went in Two by Two". The lyrics, written by Irish-American bandleader Patrick Gilmore, and published under the pseudonym 'Louis Lambert', effectively reverse those of the original, in which Johnny returns home blind and crippled, to the woman he abandoned in order to join the army. The larcenous tendencies of the Union soldiers in New Orleans were parodied in the Confederate lyrics, "For Bales", to the same tune.
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[edit] Lyrics
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!
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.
<i>Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah, hurrah!
Their choicest treasures 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
[edit] Trivia
- "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," unlike most patriotic songs, is written in a minor key.
- The music for this song is used (with different lyrics) by The Clash for their song "English Civil War".
- The song has a reoccurring presence in the Bruce Willis movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance as the on screen theme of Simon Gruber.
- The music is played during the movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) any time the action shifts to Major Kong's B-52.
- The music is played during the movie Stalag 17.
- There is a World War I (1914) variation: "When Tommy Comes Marching Home".
- Parts of the song were performed by U2 during the Vertigo Tour as a medley with "Bullet the Blue Sky."
- The remixer Ailsean on Overclocked Remix used this song in his Chrono Trigger/Final Fantasy 9 remix "Knights Come Marching Home".
- Also the song is being played in the Simpsons Episode G.I._(Annoyed_Grunt) of Season 18.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Library of Congress song info
- MIDI and description
- Youtube clip from Stalag 17 where the song is being sung
| Patriotic music of the United States | Image:Flag of the United States.svg |
|---|---|
| "America the Beautiful" | "Ballad of the Green Berets" | "Battle Cry of Freedom" | "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" | "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" | "For The Dear Old Flag, I Die" | "God Bless America" | "God Bless the USA" | "Hail Columbia" | "Hail to the Chief" | "The Liberty Bell" | "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" | "Over There" | "PT-109" | "The Stars and Stripes Forever" | "The Star-Spangled Banner" | "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" | "This is My Country" | "This Land Is Your Land" | "Yankee Doodle" | "The Yankee Doodle Boy" | "You're a Grand Old Flag" | "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" | |
