When Johnny Comes Marching Home
First release by J. W. Myers (1897)
- Lyrics written by
- Joseph B. Geoghegan
- Original music written by
- [Traditional]
- Original lyrics written by
- Patrick Gilmore
- Publication date
- 1867
- Language
- English
- Adapted from
-
When Johnny Comes Marching Home written by [Traditional], Patrick Gilmore
- Comments
-
Johnny I (We) Hardly Knew Ye (You) was published in 1867 and credited to the English music hall singer, Joseph B. Geoghegan (though he likely learned it from others). The song shares the same tune as the one for the 1863 American Civil War song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Which tune predated the other is in dispute, but the American song was published first and both tunes are just credited as "Traditional". SHS is setting up "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" as a musical adaptation of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" in order to capture the fact that they share the same tune, but again, some might argue the order should be reversed, and the reality is the tune isn't original to either song. Lyrically the two songs are unrelated other than both involve war. The American song is a patriotic song about celebrating the eventual return of our soldiers from battle, while the UK song only addresses the suffering aspect of war.
Originally seen as humorous, the song today is considered a powerful anti-war song. Except for an initial framing stanza, the song is a monologue by an Irish woman who meets her former lover on the road to Athy, which is located in County Kildare, Ireland. After their illegitimate child was born, the lover ran away and became a soldier. He was badly disfigured, losing his legs, his arms, his eyes and, in some versions, his nose, in fighting on the island of "Sulloon", or Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), and will have to be put in (or, in some versions, with) a bowl to beg. In spite of all this, the woman says, she is happy to see him and will keep him on as her beau. Modern versions often end with an anti-war affirmation. - Licensing
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