The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-01-25
THE SONGS OF THE WAR.


The songs of the old war differed
from those of the present one in that
they reflected more different shades
of feeling. Our war has been so short
that there was not room for much
more than one state of mind; the state
of mind that is represented in over
There" "Over There" was just as
singable up to the very day of the
armistice as it was when the soldiers
began to cross the Atlantic. But the
history of the four years of the Civil
war, with it's hopes, disappointment
and renewed determination, can be
traced in the varying themes of its
songs. In the first year of the Civil
war such song as Tramp. Tramp,
Tramp, the Boys are Marching could
not have been written: it needed the
great loss of the North to bring it
out, says the New York Times.
over There was surely the great
song of this war. as John Browns
Body" was of the other. George NJ.
Cohan is entitled, not for the first
time, to the credit of having his hand
on the peoples pulse, of being a real
interpreter of their moods. The
Yanks are coming, the Yanks are COM
ing. and we won't come home till it's
over. over there" and the gay but
threatening melody epitomized the
world struggle from the American
viewpoint. Later Cohan struck an
other chord, When You Come Back,
and You Will Come Back, There's a
Whole World Waiting for YOU but
he here only touched a phase. In the
earlier song he struck the national
the old war with his Rally Round
the Flag" Root, too, had his song of
a single phrase, I'VE are Coming. Fa-
Their Abraham, Three Hundred Thou
sand More" We may call Cohan the
Root of this war.
Next to Cohan must be placed Irving
Berlin, with his Il Hate to Get Up,
though he wrote others. The two
catchiest lines, those which para
phrase the bugle call, were not orig
inal, having been used in the army
long before he entered it; but it was
he who made a song around them, q
song that was sung all over the coun
try by soldiers and civilians. sung in
France. too. Ivor Novelties keep the
Home Fires Burning was written be
fore the war, but is entitled to ranl
as war song because it was adapted
to the purpose. and the same may bt
said of 10. Eliott's There's a Ions
Long Trail which the soldiers acros:
the water sang to their marches.
Goodbye, Broadway: Hello
France." was first in the field, wen
we'll while it lasted, but was too com
monplace to hold out. AS popular
song as any was Joan of Arc" which
had two singular points about it. Thu
author, Alfred Bryan, was also the au
thor of Il Didn't Raise My Boy to b.
a Soldier which was in great favO
among the pro-Germans and pacifist
before we went into the war. Whel
we did, it dropped out of sight instant
ly, and Bryan as quickly changed hi
sentiments and caught up with 'Joa
of Arc" which is as militaristic
song as could be written. 1t is irritat
ingly commonplace in words. but tn
music by Jack Wells is inspiring, an
French translation has been mad
of it which is a real poem, wherea
Bryan's English words are pathos
made all the worse by such absur
mistakes as placing Normandy anon
the victims of the German invader
in place of that blunder the Frencl
translator used words which in Eng
lish would read, THE bells of Rheim
they sound in PAIN thus changing
turnip into a rose.
Pack Up Your Troubles in You
Old Kit bag was as popular amon
the soldiers as any song. At home W
sang more sentimental songs. such a
Your Boy and My Boy Hello, Ger
trail, Give Me No Mans Land, . 'Brin
Back My Daddie to Me, America
Here's My Boy" and others whic
few collectors of the future will bottle
with; but we all Joined the soldier
enthusiastically in Godfrey O'Hara'
'K-K-K-Katy,'' which, written by a
army man, has real soldier humor.
ranks with 1.-The Captain With Hi
tWhiskers Stole Sly Glance at Me,
the comic soldier-song of the old wa
In fact, the presence of,so many mere
ly sentimental and worthless songs
a fact growing out of the ShortneSs {