"The Ants Go Marching One by One" "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 lyrics to When Johnny Comes Marching Home were
written by the Irish-American bandleader Patrick
Gilmore 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
credi...(+)
"The Ants Go Marching One by One" "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 lyrics to When Johnny Comes Marching Home were
written by the Irish-American bandleader Patrick
Gilmore 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. Why
Gilmore chose to publish under a pseudonym is not
clear, but popular composers of the period often
employed pseudonyms to add a touch of romantic mystery
to their compositions. 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, although it
is not clear if the engagement already existed in 1863
and the two were not married until 1875.
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."
The melody was previously published around July 1,
1863, as the music to the Civil War drinking song
Johnny Fill Up the Bowl. 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. The original sheet music for Johnny Fill
Up the Bowl states that the music was arranged (not
composed) by J. Durnal. 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 some have
suggested a connection to the seventeenth-century
ballad The Three Ravens.
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.
I created this arrangement for my friend and Pastor
Julian J. Champion of the West Point School of Music
located in Chicago IL. It has a single purpose for
making music accessible to inner-city and disadvantaged
youth. They are a struggling organization with a
wonderful purpose. This arrangement is created for
Steel Orchestra (Lead Pan), Double Lead, Alto Pan,
Cello Pan & Bass Pan) Steel Drums & Percussion (Bass
Drum, Snare Drum and High Hat).
SHEET MUSIC