It's a Long Way to Tipperary

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is a British music hall and marching song written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams (Henry James Williams), a song that, allegedly, was written for a 5 shilling bet in Stalybridge, on the 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local music hall. Jack's parents were Irish, and his grandparents came from Tipperary. [cite book|last=Gibbons|first= Verna Hale |year=1999|title=The Judges: Mayo, to the Midlands of England|location= West Midlands|publisher= Sandwell Community Library Service]

The Song

The well known chorus is::"It's a long way to Tipperary,":"It's a long way to go.":"It's a long way to Tipperary":"To the sweetest girl I know!":"Goodbye Piccadilly,":"Farewell Leicester Square!":"It's a long, long way to Tipperary,":"But my heart's right there."

alternatively

:"But my heart lies there." [ [http://allaboutirish.com/library/music/tippsong.shtm AllAboutIrish - It's A Long Way to Tipperary ] ]

It was popularised by the Connaught Rangers as they marched through Boulogne on 13 August 1914, witnessed by "Daily Mail" correspondent George Curnock, and reported on 18 August 1914. It was then picked up by other soldiers in the British Army. In November 1914 it was recorded by John McCormack, which helped contribute to its world-wide popularity. [cite book|last=Gibbons|first= Verna Hale |year=1998|title=Jack Judge: The Tipperary Man|location= West Midlands|publisher= Sandwell Community Library Service|id= ISBN 1 900 689 073]

Versions

First sung on the British music hall stage in 1913 by Florrie Forde, it was featured as one of the songs in the 1930s stage musical "Oh! What a Lovely War" and the 1970 musical "Darling Lili", sung by Julie Andrews. It was also sung by the prisoners of war in Jean Renoir's film "La Grande Illusion", by the crew of U-96 in Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot" (that particular arrangement was performed by the Red Army Choir), as background music in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming", and by the newsroom staff in the final episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." It is also the second part (the other two being "Has Anyone Seen the Colonel?" and "Mademoiselle from Armentières") of the regimental march of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. It is also sung by British soldiers in the film "The Travelling Players" directed by the Theo Angulopous. Also sung by a Czech soldier in the movie Cerni Baroni.

This song is not to be confused with a popular song from 1907 simply titled "Tipperary". Both were sung at different times by early recording star Billy Murray. Murray, with the American Quartet, sang "It's A Long Way To Tipperary" as a straightforward march, complete with brass, drums and cymbals, with a quick bar of "Rule Britannia" thrown into the instrumental interlude between the first and second verse-chorus combination [http://firstworldwar.com/audio/American%20Quartet%20&%20Billy%20Murray%20-%20It's%20A%20Long%20Long%20Way.mp3] .

The song is often cited when documentary footage of World War I is presented. One example of its use is in the annual TV special "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Snoopy (who fancies himself a WWI flying ace) dances to a medley of WWI-era songs played by Schroeder. This song is included, and at that point Snoopy falls into a left-right-left marching pace. Schroeder also played this song in "Snoopy Come Home" at Snoopy's send-off party. And Snoopy himself, in a series of strips about his going to the 1968 Winter Olympics was seen singing the song himself out loud.

The German U-boat crew sings the song as they start patrolling in the North Atlantic ocean to disturb convoy traffic to England, (morale is then boosted in the boat) in the World War II film "Das Boot". The crew also sing it as they cruise toward home port after near disaster.

The Kannadiga playwright and poet, T.P. Kailasam, as part of a wager from an English friend, translated the song into Kannada, adding witty Kannada-specific lyrics. The resulting song, "Namma Tipparahalli balu Doora" ("Halli" meaning "village" in Kannada), is a popular song in Karnataka.

The song is peculiarly popular among a generation of Sri Lankans who were born as late as the 1940s and 50s. It is frequently sung at parties as part of a "bajau" along with other Colonial-era music hall songs such as "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", the 1960s calypso hit "Mary Ann" as well as traditional Sinhala language songs.

The final episode of the long-running sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" ended with the cast singing the tune in unison.

The title has been used in various humorous stories, where a disambiguation is the basis of the joke's premise. The stories usually involve the purchase of a rare animal (a bird or a type of rabbit), called a "Rary", which the story's owner in the end is forced to get rid of because of some grave annoyance. This animal, unable to move all by itself can only roll around, and when its owner is forced to put away the animal, he travels a long way in order to tip it off a cliff, thereby triggering a comment from a passer-by who says: "That's a long way to tip a Rary!". [ [http://users.adelphia.net/~jharland/familyfolder/johnbrownehomefolder/johnbrownestories/bookofanimals/FurBall.html Example story "Fur Ball" by John Browne] ]

Parody

The song is the basis for the scientific parody about evolution: "It's a Long Way from Amphioxus". [cite journal |title=It's a Long Way From Amphioxus |journal=Nature]

Verses as sung in early versions

:Up to mighty London :Came an Irishman one day:As the streets are paved with gold :Sure, everyone was gay:Singing songs of Piccadilly, :Strand and Leicester Square:Till Paddy got excited:And he shouted to them there...

:It's a long way to Tipperary...

:Paddy wrote a letter :To his Irish Molly-O,:Saying, "Should you not receive it :Write and let me know!":"If I make mistakes in spelling,:Molly dear," said he,:"Remember, it's the "pen" that's bad,:Don't lay the blame on "me!"

:It's a long way to Tipperary...

:Molly wrote a neat reply :To Irish Paddy-O:Saying Mike Maloney :Wants to marry me and so:Leave the Strand and Picadilly :Or you'll be to blame:For love has fairly drove me silly::Hoping you're the same!

:It's a long way to Tipperary...

An alternative concluding chorus, bawdy by contemporary standards:

That's the wrong way to tickle MaryThat's the wrong way to kissDon't you know that over here ladThey like it best like thisHooray pour les francaisFarewell AngleterreWe didn't know how to tickle MaryBut we learnt how over there.

See also

*"Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square"

References

External links

* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/itsalongwaytotipperary.htm Full lyrics and early recordings]
* [http://www.kannadaaudio.com/Songs/Bhaavageethe/TPKailasam/ThipparalliBaluDoora.ram Kannada Version written by Kailasam]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • It's A Long Way To Tipperary — It's a Long Way to Tipperary It s A Long Way To Tipperary est un air de music hall écrit par Jack Judge et Harry Williams en 1912. Son refrain mondialement connu est : It s a long way to Tipperary, It s a long way to go. It s a long way… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • It's a long way to tipperary — It's a Long Way to Tipperary It s A Long Way To Tipperary est un air de music hall écrit par Jack Judge et Harry Williams en 1912. Son refrain mondialement connu est : It s a long way to Tipperary, It s a long way to go. It s a long way… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • It's a Long Way to Tipperary — est un air de music hall écrit par Jack Judge et Harry Williams en 1912. Son refrain mondialement connu est : It s a long way to Tipperary, It s a long way to go. It s a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know! Goodbye Piccadilly,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • It's a Long Way to Tipperary — Es un largo camino a Tipperary It s A Long Way To Tipperary (en español: es un largo camino hasta Tipperay) es una canción de music hall compuesta por Jack Judge y Harry Williams el 30 de enero de 1912 en la ciudad inglesa de Stalybridge como… …   Wikipedia Español

  • It's a Long Way to Tipperary — It’s a Long Way to Tipperary ist ein Lied aus der Marschmusik, das am 31. Januar 1912 von Jack Judge (1878–1938) geschrieben wurde. Als eines der Lieblingslieder der britischen Soldaten wurde es im Ersten Weltkrieg weltweit bekannt und gehört… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • It’s a Long Way to Tipperary — Aufnahme aus dem Jahr 1915, gesungen von Albert Farrington It’s a Long Way to Tipperary ist ein Lied aus der Marschmusik, das am 31. Januar 1912 von Jack Judge (1878–1938) geschrieben wurde. Als eines der Lieblingslieder der britischen Soldaten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • It's a Long Way to Tipperary — It’s a Long Way to Tipperary [Its a Long Way to Tipperary] the title and first line of a music hall song popular with British soldiers during ↑World War I. Tipperary is a town in southern Ireland, and the singer, an Irishman, wants to return… …   Useful english dictionary

  • It’s a Long Way to Tipperary — the title and first line of a music hall(1) song popular with British soldiers during World War I. Tipperary is a town in southern Ireland, and the singer, an Irishman, wants to return there to see ‘the sweetest girl I know’. It is still used as… …   Universalium

  • It's a Long Way to Tipperary — …   Википедия

  • It’s a long way to Tipperary — …   Википедия

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