SONGS OF WARTIME

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4222, 11 December 1939, Page 8

SONGS OF WARTIME

MELODIES TO WHICH THE “BOYS" MAY MAJRCH. ‘ TIPPERARY’S” RIVALS. What will be the popular marching song of the present war? Miss Gracie Fields is one of the first among the sponsors of such songs and her great popularity will ensure a welcome for “Wish Me Luck,” which she (terms the “national cheer-up song.” The chorus runs as follows: “Wish me luck, as you wave me good-bye. Cheerio! Here I go, on my way. Wish me luck, as you wave me good-bye. With a cheer, not a tear, malje it gay. Give me a smile I can keep all the while In my heart while I’m away, Till we meet once again, you and I. Wish me luck, as you wave me good-bye.” | It is doubtful, however, if this or any other soldiers’ songs will ever achieve the amazing popularity that “Tipperary” attained in the 1914-18 war. It was not that the song had any special lyrical or musical merits. Sir Philip Gibbs, who was one of the best-known correspondents in that war, has related how it reached France in 1914. Describing the arrival of the British soldiers, he wrote:—“For the first time there rang out in France the foolish ballad ‘Tipperary’ which has Ibecomle, by a queer freak, the war song of the British Army.” “A LONG. LONG TRAIL.” “Tipperary” soon had rivals, and men who took part in the campaign will remember the gusto which they imparted to favourites such as “There’s a long, long trail a-wind-ing,” “Pack up your troubles in your (old kit-bag,” “Hello, hello, who’s your lady friend?” “Who were you with last night?”, and “Mademoiselle from Armentieres.” Miss Lena Ashwell, the actress who did tremendous work for the entertainment (of the troops, has paid to the value of these songs as a tonic, and has told how even soldiers badly wounded would take up with enthusiasm the choruses, with undoubted great curative effects. Nowadays “The Girl I Left Behind Me” is hardly known, but it may be noted that it wa,s a popular marching song as far back as the Crimean War, and it was frequently called into use when troops were being marched for embarkation to, foreign soil. During 1918 a favourite among some of the divisions in France was “Rolling Home,” which was frequently (heard on the plains of Lombardy. The following verse may lie quoted:— “Rolling home, rolling home, By the light of the silvery mo-o-n. Bon giorno, signorina, With your little concertina. Bon giorno, signorina—com est ta?” “Bon giorno” meant “Good day,” and “Com est ta?” “How are you.” The Italians, by the way, did not play concertinas, but that did not matter; it had to come in as a rhyme to “signorina.” THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. In wartime, the National Anthem assumes a special significance and is sung by both soldiers and civilians: with an added fervour and sincerity. It may he said that it is the most popular song in the world, for it is familiar to practically all the 490,000,000 or so members of the British Empire. The United States National Anthem, “My Country, ’tis of Thee,” in comparison appeals to only about 122,0'00,030 Americans and “Heil Dir Im Seigerkrans” to a mere 64,000,000 or so adherents of the German Reich.

Strangely, “God Save the King” has an uncertain authorship. The words and the tune were at one time attributed to Henry Carey, an eighteenth century poet who wrote the ballad “Sally in Our Alley,” but the claims for Carey in regard to our" National Anthem have been repudiated. The question of the composer of the tune is also in dioulbt. It has been attributed to John Bull, a sixteenthseventeenth century composer who for a time was organist at Hereford Cathedral, but in his case also there is no substantiation. “God Save the King” has frequently been utilised by composers of repute. Haydn has it in his “Emperor’s Hymn,” Weber used it in his “Battle and Victory” cantata, and it is in Brahms’s “Triumphlied.” Beethoven introduced it into his “Battle Symphony,” commenting, “I must show the English what a blessing they have in “God Save the King.’ ” “RULE BRITANNIA.” “Rule Britannia” also has a dubious authorship Da,vid Mallet, an eighteenth century poet, made a claim for the honour, but it is now more generally accredited to hia more famous contemporary, “James Thomson.” The words of “Rule Britannia.”

first appeared in “Alped,” a masque in which Mallet and Thomson were collaborators. The work was written by command of the Prince of Wales of the day, and subsequently His Royal Highness awarded a pension to Thomson. It is worth noting one line which has aroused controversy was originally written by Thomson as:— “Rule, Britannia, rule the waves.” but Thomas Campbell in introducing the line into his “(Ode to the Germans,” gives i|t in its present more popular form:—“Britannia rules the waves.” Adam Miller, in the Weekly Scots, man.