"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. A song is a relatively short musical composition. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (1829-1892), Union Army bandmaster during the Civil War, wrote the lyrics to the song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

Some believe 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]. However, expert James Fuld, author of the standard text on popular music, The Book of World Famous Music, states on page 640 of that volume that Donal O'Sullivan, the Irish authority, has written the Library of Congress that he does not consider the melody of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" as Irish in origin. As stated, no printed music of Irish origin has been discovered that predates American publication in September of 1863 by Henry Tolman in Boston under the above mentioned title. Library of Congress records do show a title "Johnny Fill Up The Bowl" that was published in July of 1863 by John J. Daly that appears to contain the song's melody. Irish traditional anti-war and anti-recruiting song, the basis for the American popular song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. ...

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 some Union soldiers in New Orleans were parodied in the Confederate lyrics, "For Bales", to the same tune. There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Irish Americans (Irish: Gael-Mheiriceánach) are citizens of the United States who can claim ancestry originating in the west European nation of Ireland. ... Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (1829-1892), Union Army bandmaster during the Civil War, wrote the lyrics to the song When Johnny Comes Marching Home. ... For Bales!, fully titled For Bales! An Oer True Tale. ...

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!
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

Trivia

• There is a World War I (1914) variation: "When Tommy Comes Marching Home".

• The music is played during the movie Stalag 17 (1953).

• The music is played during the movie How The West Was Won (1963).

• The music is played as an instrumental march 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.

• Malvina Reynolds wrote different lyrics for the tune in her song "The Judge Said" (1977).

• The music for this song is used (with different lyrics) by The Clash for their song "English Civil War" (1979).

• A French version "Johnny Revient d'la Guerre / Frères d'armes" (listed as two songs, but it actually sounds like one piece of music) was recorded by Bérurier Noir, on the album Macadam Massacre (1984).

• Country music group Boy Howdy released a version of the song in 1991.

• On the night of Johnny Carson's last first-run Tonight Show in 1992, Comedy Central was running continuous tributes to Carson, interweaving a variant on this song, sung by Penn Jillette, as "When Johnny Goes Marching Home".

• Guns N' Roses used a part of the song for their song Civil War (1993).

• The song has a recurring presence in the Bruce Willis movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) as the on screen theme of Simon Gruber.

• Iced Earth used a part of the song for their song "The Devil to Pay" on The Glorious Burden (2004).

• Parts of the song were performed by U2 during the Vertigo Tour (2005) as a medley with "Bullet the Blue Sky."

• Paul Wall & Chamillionaire used the melody of this song for both versions of "True" from Controversy Sells (2005).

• The "Johnny" so longed for in the song is Patrick Gilmore's future brother in-law a Union Light Artillery Captain named John O'Rourke. The song was written by Patrick for his sister Annie Gilmore as she longed for the safe return of her Captain from the Civil War.

Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. ... How the West Was Won is How the West Was Won (movie) a 1962 film by James R. Webb. ... For the hit 1987 single by Depeche Mode, see the album Music for the Masses Film poster for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick. ... The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, jet strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955. ... Ear to the Ground, a posthumous release of Malvina Reynolds recordings on the Folkways label, 2000. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... English Civil War is a song by The Clash, featured on their second album Give Em Enough Rope, and released as a single. ... Bérurier noir is a French punk band formed in 1983 by Loran (guitar), François(vocals) and Dédé (drum machine). ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Boy Howdy was an American country music band that scored a couple of hits on the country charts in the mid-1990s. ... For other persons named John Carson, see John Carson (disambiguation). ... The First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush and current host Jay Leno. ... Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel in the United States. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Guns N Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. ... Civil War is a Guns N Roses song (written by Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan), originally appearing on the 1990 album Nobodys Child, a fundraising compilation for Romanian orphans. ... Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a German-American actor and singer. ... Die Hard: With a Vengeance, the third film in the Die Hard series starring Bruce Willis as policeman John McClane, adds Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus Carver, Willis reluctant partner. ... Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band that combines influences from thrash metal, power metal, Progressive metal, Speed metal and NWOBHM. In 1999 their leader and songwriter Jon Schaffer teamed up with Blind Guardian vocalist Hansi Kürsch to form a side project called Demons & Wizards. ... The Glorious Burden is an album by the American Heavy Metal band Iced Earth. ... U2 (IPA: /ju. ... The Vertigo Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place in 2005 and 2006 in support of the groups 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. ... Bullet the Blue Sky is a song on U2s 1987 album The Joshua Tree. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Hakeem Seriki (born November 28, 1979, in Washington, D.C.) is an American entrepreneur and Grammy Award winning rapper from the Acres Homes section of Houston, Texas. ... Controversy Sells was the sophomore effort by Paul Wall & Chamillionaire of The Color Changin Click. ...

External links

• Library of Congress song info
• RealMedia Sample from How The West Was Won
• MIDI and description