Talk:Taps (bugle call)

message: The tune that we know as taps was unknown until the Battle of Gettysburg. Until then the Army didn't have a standard bugle call for lights out. The one most often used was an old French call known as a "tattoo". The term "Taps" came from a Dutch term for "taptoe" which was used to signify closing the beer taps at the end of the day and sending the troops back to camp from leave.
In July, 1863, tattoo was re-written by the commander of the Union Army at Gettysburg, Maj Gen Daniel Butterfield, because he wanted to have a standardized call for day's end. His men called it "Drum Taps", "The Taps", or simply "Taps". The call was adopted by both the Northern and the Southern Armies for the duration of the war. [Source: Historical archive at the Gettysburg National Battlefield Memorial, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.]
The Army officially adopted taps in 1874, and it became standard for campfires and funerals in 1891.
Taps didn't have words until many years after it was written. The most official version of lyrics in use today, the first two verses, was published by Horace Lorenzo Trim. There have been several additional verses written by civilians and soldiers throughout the Army for a variety of purposes. John Wayne, Josef Pasternak, John Tidball, and Robert Ellicombe all get credit for writing verses. Ellicombe used it for the funeral of his son, said to be a confederate soldier.MR2David (talk) 07:35, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Historical Information 

message: I think that the Lyrics section is getting unwieldy. A new set attributed to Anne McAffrey has just been added. I am not an expert on Taps but I feel that what is probably required is just ONE set of lyrics that are regarded as the most commonly-used, and with a good reference for this. All the others could be removed and replaced with a note that variants exist. Certainly, if we go the other way and add every set across which we stumble, the article is not going to improve. But that's just my inexpert opinion - what do you think? Best wishes to all, DBaK (talk) 09:29, 26 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: I just rather dramatically trimmed it back to all except the first. I don't really think it needs trimming THAT drastically but I really would appreciate some discussion here followed by others editing it to what they think is correct, and/or commenting on my point above. Thanks and best wishes DBaK (talk) 10:30, 27 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: PS Sources - is it Jari Villanueva wrote that lovely book about it (or if not, who)? Might it help? I think I have a copy. Anyone else, any other source?? DBaK (talk) 13:17, 27 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lyrics 

message: The two paragraphs about the Texas A&M tradition(s) confuse me. Are there 2 traditions--Silver Taps and Echo Taps? I think there's overlap in the two paragraphs. I hesitate to change because I'm unfamiliar with the traditions. Also, the meaning of "Aggies" isn't explained. Kekki1978 (talk) 08:14, 7 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Texas A&M paragraphs seem confusing 

message: :The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 
The result of the move request was: moved. The bugle call's primary topic status, whether by usage or dominance in long-term significance, seems to be unable to be secured. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 02:09, 15 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Taps →  – WP:ASTONISH, no primary topic per WP:PLURALPT, the bugle call has 6,688 views but the 1981 film has more, 7,126, the valve has 3,039, the buffer has 165, Taps Mugadza has 62 and the 2006 film has 35[]. Redirect back to Tap per WP:DABCOMBINE. Crouch, Swale (talk)  17:48, 30 October 2022 (UTC)

text: Note: WikiProject Songs has been notified of this discussion. – robertsky (talk) 13:12, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

text: Note: WikiProject United States has been notified of this discussion. – robertsky (talk) 13:12, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

text: Note: WikiProject Death has been notified of this discussion. – robertsky (talk) 13:12, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

text: Note: WikiProject Scouting has been notified of this discussion. – robertsky (talk) 13:13, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: As Crouch Swale shows, this oppose is not correct. "taps" means taps. No evidence from Gbooks that the bugle call is well known, let alone primary topic. In ictu oculi (talk) 12:27, 8 November 2022 (UTC)

text:  en.wp cannot distinguish taps from Taps. In ictu oculi (talk) 12:27, 8 November 2022 (UTC)

text: Relisting comment: A battle on whether the opposers' long-term significance arguments are valid continues to rage on. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 17:02, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move 30 October 2022 

message: why is the info about Butterfield so far away from the original reference to him? For somebody who jumps down to origins, it's like who is this and how did he get this job?
100.15.117.34 (talk) 00:14, 13 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  swinging in the wind 

message: I attended YMCA Camp Loowit at the foot of Mt. St. Helens in the 1970s. (The camp isn't there anymore, nor is most of the mountain.) We used to sing the first verse of Taps quietly at the end of campfire each night, and then half an hour later, when the whole camp was in bed, two buglers played it to signal lights out. They stood at opposite ends of the large property and staggered their entry, so that from your cabin you either heard the call begin far-off then recommence louder, or it began near you and you heard a far-off echo of the last three notes after it ended. I always suspected that the echo versions in the military were a callback to the same experience soldiers had in large army camps, though this isn't confirmed in our entry here. Laodah 02:38, 9 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Civilian use