This article is about the song. For the 1942 musical, see When Johnny Comes Marching Home (film).

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (Roud 6637), sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again", is a popular song from the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.

Origins

Irish-American bandleader Patrick Gilmore wrote the lyrics to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" during the American Civil War. Its first sheet music publication was deposited in the Library of Congress on September 26, 1863, with words and music credited to "Louis Lambert"; copyright was retained by the publisher, Henry Tolman & Co., of Boston.[1] Why Gilmore published under a pseudonym is unclear, but popular composers of the period often employed pseudonyms to add a touch of romantic mystery to their compositions.[2] Gilmore is said to have written 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,[3][4][5] although it is not clear if they were already engaged in 1863; the two were not married until 1875.[6]

Gilmore later acknowledged that the music was not original but was, as he put it in an 1883 article in the Musical Herald, "a musical waif which I happened to hear somebody humming in the early days of the rebellion, and taking a fancy to it, wrote it down, dressed it up, gave it a name, and rhymed it into usefulness for a special purpose suited to the times."[7]

The melody was previously published around July 1, 1863, as the music to the Civil War drinking song "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl".[8] A color-illustrated, undated slip of Gilmore's lyrics, printed by his own Boston publisher, actually states that "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" should be sung to the tune of "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl".[9] The original sheet music for "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl" states that the music was arranged (not composed) by J. Durnal.[10] There is a melodic resemblance of the tune to that of "John Anderson, My Jo" (to which Robert Burns wrote lyrics to fit a pre-existing tune dating from about 1630 or earlier), and Jonathan Lighter has suggested a connection to the 17th-century ballad "The Three Ravens".[11]

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is also sung to the same tune as "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" and is frequently thought to have been a rewriting of that song. However, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" was not published until 1867, and it originally had a different melody.[12]

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was immensely popular and was sung by both sides of the American Civil War.[13] It became a hit in England as well.[14]

Alternative 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 a similar title, "When Tommy Comes Marching Home". The 1880 U.S. presidential election campaign featured a campaign song called "If the Johnnies Get into Power,"[15] which supported the Republicans James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur against the "Johnnies" (Democrats Winfield S. Hancock and William H. English).[16]

The children's songs, "Ants Go Marching", or "Ants Go Marching One By One", and "The Animals Went in Two by Two" ("Into the Ark") re-used the tune and the refrain.

Lyrics

Illustration of a Zouave company on Civil War era broadside of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".
When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1898) - John Terrell
The second earliest recording of the song, When Johnny Comes Marching Home in 1898 by John Terrell.
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The cover page of the book, "Beadle's Dime Song Book, No. 15: A Collection of the New and Popular Comic and Sentimental Songs", written by Erastus Flavel Beadle.
The first part of the song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"
The second part of the song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", and the first part of the song, "The Bird Song"

The original lyrics, written by Patrick Gilmore during the American Civil War, were published in 1863 in Erastus Beadle's booklet, Beadle's Dime Song Book, No. 15: A Collection of New and Popular Comic and Sentimental Songs in pages 18 and 19.[17]

"Johnny Fill Up the Bowl"

"Johnny Fill Up the Bowl", which provided the tune for "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", was a topical drinking song that commented on events in the American Civil War. It was frequently refitted with new words by soldiers and other publishers.[10]

A satirical variant of "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl", entitled "For Bales" or, more fully, "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", was published in New Orleans in 1864, by A. E. Blackmar.

Notable recordings

English pop singer Adam Faith sang a version titled "Johnny Comes Marching Home", used over the opening and closing title credits for the British crime thriller Never Let Go (1960). This version was arranged and conducted by John Barry. Another version was released as a single, reaching No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart.[18]

References

  1. ^ Lighter, pp. 16–17.
  2. ^ Lighter, p. 16.
  3. ^ [1][dead link]
  4. ^ Peterson, Patti Jo (August 30, 2007). "The House that O'Rourke Built". The Plattsmouth Journal: 5.
  5. ^ Peterson, Patti Jo (June 15, 2006). "The O'Rourke House". The Plattsmouth Journal: 11.
  6. ^ Lighter, pp. 70–71.
  7. ^ Lighter, p. 17.
  8. ^ Lighter, pp. 18–19.
  9. ^ Lighter, p. 21.
  10. ^ a b Lighter, p. 19.
  11. ^ Lighter, pp. 21–28.
  12. ^ Lighter, pp. 28–29.
  13. ^ Erbsen, p. 68
  14. ^ Lighter, p. 15.
  15. ^ Jay Nordlinger, "American Sounds: A little music with your politics – music at political conventions", National Review, 2000-09-11
  16. ^ Haynes, Stan M. (2015). President-Making in the Gilded Age: The Nominating Conventions of 1876–1900. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 43. ISBN 9781476623054.
  17. ^ Beadle, Erastus Flavel. "Beadle's Dime Song Book, No. 15: A Collection of New and Popular Comic and Sentimental Songs". 118 William Street, New York, NY: Beadle and Company. pp. 18–19. Retrieved 16 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 192–3. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

Bibliography

  • Erbsen, Wayne: Rousing Songs and True Tales of the Civil War. Native Ground Books & Music, 2008. ISBN 1-883206-33-2
  • Lambert, Louis (Patrick Gilmore). "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". Boston: Henry Tolman & Co. (1863)
  • Lighter, Jonathan. "The Best Antiwar Song Ever Written," Occasional Papers in Folklore No. 1. CAMSCO Music and Loomis House Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-935243-89-2

External links