{"id":11225,"date":"2022-06-24T03:09:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T03:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/?p=11225"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:15:38","slug":"when-johnny-comes-marching-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/when-johnny-comes-marching-home\/","title":{"rendered":"When Johnny Comes Marching Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/robertandrews.net\/songpics\/W-Z\/when-johnny.jpg\">SHEET MUSIC<\/a><\/p>\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='69ea4b571b7a15074184650' value='69ea4b571b7a15074184650'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-69ea4b571b7a15074184650' value='SONG HISTORY'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-less-text-69ea4b571b7a15074184650' value='HIDE HISTORY'><button id='bg-showmore-action-69ea4b571b7a15074184650' class='bg-showmore-plg-button bg-orange-button  '   style=\" color:#4a4949;\">SONG HISTORY<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-69ea4b571b7a15074184650' ><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">\u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home\u201d (sometimes \u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home Again\u201d) is a popular song from the American Civil War that expressed people\u2019s longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">The lyrics to \u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home\u201d 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 <strong>September 26, 1863,<\/strong> with words and music credited to \u201cLouis Lambert\u201d; copyright was retained by the publisher, Henry Tolman &amp; Co., of Boston.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">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 fianc\u00e9, Union Light Artillery Captain John O\u2019Rourke, from the Civil War, although it is not clear if they were already engaged in 1863, as the two were not married until 1875.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">Gilmore later acknowledged that the music was not original but was, as he put it in an 1883 article in the Musical Herald, \u201ca 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">The melody was previously published around July 1, 1863, as the music to the Civil War drinking song \u201cJohnny Fill Up the Bowl\u201d.[8] A color-illustrated, undated slip of Gilmore\u2019s lyrics, printed by his own Boston publisher, actually states that \u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home\u201d should be sung to the tune of \u201cJohnny Fill Up the Bowl\u201d. The original sheet music for \u201cJohnny Fill Up the Bowl\u201d states that the music was arranged (not composed) by J. Durnal. There is a melodic resemblance of the tune to that of \u201cJohn Anderson, My Jo\u201d (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 seventeenth-century ballad \u201cThe Three Ravens\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">\u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home\u201d is also sung to the same tune as \u201cJohnny I Hardly Knew Ye\u201d and is frequently thought to have been a rewriting of that song. However, \u201cJohnny I Hardly Knew Ye\u201d was not published until 1867, and it originally had a different melody.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">\u201cWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home\u201d was immensely popular and was sung by both sides of the American Civil War.[13] It became a hit in England as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\">SEE ALSO. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/johnny-i-hardly-knew-ye\/\">JOHNNY, I HARDLY KNEW YE<\/a>&#8220;<\/span><\/p>\n<pre class=\"tK8GG Ty_RP\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span class=\"y68er\">[Verse 1]\r\n<\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">When [Em] Johnny comes marching home again.  \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">We'll [Em] give him a hearty welcome then   \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! [B7] Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">\r\nThe [G] men will cheer and the [D] boys will shout \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">The [Em] ladies they will [B7] all turn out \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">And we'll [Em] all [D] feel [C] gay [B7] when\r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home. <\/span><\/span>\r\n \r\n<span class=\"y68er\">[Verse 2]\r\n<\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">The [Em] old church bell will peal with joy \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">To [Em] welcome home our darling boy, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! [B7] Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">\r\nThe [G] village lads and [D] lassies say \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">With [Em] roses they will [B7] strew the way, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">And we'll [Em] all [D] feel [C] gay [B7] when \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home. <\/span><\/span>  \r\n \r\n<span class=\"y68er\">[Verse 3]\r\n<\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">Get [Em] ready for the Jubilee,   <\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">We'll [Em] give the hero three times three, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah! [B7] Hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">The [G] laurel wreath is [D] ready now \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">To [Em] place upon his [B7] loyal brow \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">And we'll [Em] all [D] feel [C] gay [B7] when \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home. <\/span><\/span>  \r\n \r\n<span class=\"y68er\">[Verse 4]\r\n<\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">Let [Em] love and friendship on that day, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah, hurrah! \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">Their [Em] choicest pleasures then display, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">[G] Hurrah, [B7] hurrah! <\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">\r\nAnd [G] let each one per-[D]-form some part, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">To [Em] fill with joy the [B7] warrior's heart, \r\n<\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\">And we'll [Em] all [D] feel [C] gay [B7] when \r\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"fsG7q\"><span class=\"y68er\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">[Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home.\r\n<\/span>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Yes we'll [Em] all [D] feel [C] gay [B7] when \r\n[Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home.\r\nWhen [Em] Johnny comes [B7] marching [Em] home. <\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/pre>\n<div class=\"LJhrL\"><span style=\"font-size: 24pt;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>WHEN JOHNNY COMES<br \/>\nMARCHING HOME AGAIN 1863<br \/>\nWHEN JOHNNY COME MARCHING<br \/>\nHOME AGAIN, HURRAH! HURRAH!<br \/>\nWE\u2019LL GIVE HIM A HEARTY<br \/>\nWELCOME THEN, HURRAH! HURRAH!<br \/>\nTHE MEN WILL CHEER<br \/>\nAND THE BOYS WILL SHOUT,<br \/>\nTHE LADIES THEY WILL ALL TURN OUT,<br \/>\nAND WE\u2019LL ALL FEEL GAY<br \/>\nWHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME .<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHEET MUSIC SEE ALSO. &#8220;JOHNNY, I HARDLY KNEW YE&#8220; [Verse 1] When [Em] Johnny comes marching home again. [G] Hurrah! Hurrah! We&#8217;ll [Em] give him a hearty welcome then [G] Hurrah! [B7] Hurrah! The [G] men will cheer and the [D] boys will shout The [Em] ladies they will [B7] &hellip; <span class=\"more-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/when-johnny-comes-marching-home\/\" class=\"more-link\">CLICK TO VIEW SONG<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">When Johnny Comes Marching Home<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,133,126,265,116,117,68,94,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perflive","category-baritone-bill","category-bass-guitar-night","category-best-songs","category-live-baritone","category-live-piano","category-love-songs","category-patriotic-songs","category-songpics-sheetmusic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30274,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11225\/revisions\/30274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertandrews.net\/songs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}