![]() ![]() The alleged larcenous tendencies of some Union soldiers in New Orleans were parodied in the lyrics " For Bales", to the same tune. 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 House that O'Rourke Built" Patti Jo Peterson The Plattsmouth Journal Augpage 5, AND " The O'Rourke House" Patti Jo Peterson The Plattsmouth Journal Jpage 11) The song was written by Patrick for his sister Annie Gilmore as she longed for the safe return of her fiancé from the Civil War. 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 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. ![]() ![]() James Fuld in The Book of World Famous Music (page 640) indicates that some believe the melody is not Irish in origin. Primacy of one version over another is difficult to prove conclusively because most versions were never written down or published. It was used as a motivation song that told the soldiers what happens when the war is over.Īs 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. It was sung by both sides of the Civil War. Based on internal textual references, "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" apparently dates from the early 1800s, while " When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was first published in 1863. The Irish antiwar song " Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" and " When Johnny Comes Marching Home" share the same melodic material. ![]()
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