Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier

Subject: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: GUEST,seth in Olympia
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 05:30 PM

This old song is on a cassette by a Scottish singer Hamish ? whose name briefly escapes me. I think that cassettes are the best way to hear music in the car, as old ones are nearly free these days in the U.S. Nobody values them at all, which. means that lots of cool stuff sneaks through. And they are quite indestructible. My kids and grands love this song. What's the history?
seth

Subject: Lyr Add: I DIDN'T RAISE MY BOY TO BE A SOLDIER
From: sing4peace
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:35 PM

I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier - Lyrics: Alfred Bryan, Music: Al Piantadosi A popular 1915 anti-war song. The sheet music says on the top: A Mother's Plea for Peace The version you have is sung by Hamish Imlach


Ten million soldiers to the war have gone
who may never return again
Ten million mothers' hearts must break
for the ones who died in vain.
Head bowed down in sorrow in her lonely years
I heard a mother murmur through her tears:

Chorus: I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier
I brought him up to be my pride and joy
Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder
To shoot some other mother's darling boy?
Let nations arbitrate their future troubles
It's time to lay the sword and gun away.
There'd be no war today
If mothers all would say
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier.

What victory can cheer a mother's heart
When she looks at her blighted home?
What victory can bring her back
All she cared to call her own?
Let each mother answer in the years to be
Remember that my boy belongs to me!

Chorus: I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier...

Copyright MCMXV by Leo, Feist, Inc. Feist Bldg. NYC

--
Joyce

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:46 PM

Seth, I see you posted a link to an audio of an old recording of this in THIS THREAD. Thanks for that. It's always good to hear the old recordings.

Joyce, thanks for posting the lyrics.

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 06:49 PM

The version Hamish Imlach sings on "Sonny's Dream", Lismor LCOM 7006 is credited trad. new tune Imlach/lyrics McVicar Cop Con. and is quite different from the version above. I don't have a transcription, but could do one if there's not one available.

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: GUEST,seth in Olympia
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 12:03 AM

Hamish does it as a march with lots of great fife and drumming, not sentimental at all, to my ear more from the father's perspective than the mother's.
seth

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 07:27 AM

Youtube appears to have only one video of the song, Here

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 07:37 AM

Imlach's version was very different to the one posted above and I think earlier. I think it dates from the colonial wars at the tail end of the nineteenth century "Do Zulus and Hindus not have the right to choose?" is one line I'm dredging from my memory.

Steve

Subject: Lyr Add: I DIDN'T RAISE MY BOY TO BE A SOLDIER
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 08:04 AM

If you input "didn't raise my son to ba a soldier" into Google, the first hit comes up with this :


I DIDN'T RAISE MY BOY TO BE A SOLDIER

Laurence Vance, May 21, 2006

Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum

Here is an anti-war song sent to me from a reader. He says that it was written and sung by the British in protest to that Empire's wars around the turn of the century. The song was revived for WWI. It then became "Americanized," and was used to protest the USA being engaged in the WWI.

Below is the British version of the lyrics. I have linked to an American version of the song with slightly different lyrics.


I didn't raise my son to be a soldier
I brought him up to be my pride and joy
Who dares to put a musket on his shoulder
To shoot another mother's darling boy
Why should he fight in someone else's quarrels
It's time to throw the sword and gun away
There would be no war today
If the nations all would say
No I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

I didn't raise my son to be a soldier
To go fighting in some far-off foreign land
He may get killed before he's any older
For a cause that he will never understand
Why should he fight another rich man's battle
While they stay at home and while their time away
Let those with most to lose
Fight each other if they choose
For I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

I didn't raise my son to be a soldier
To go fighting heathens round the Horn
If God required to prove that boys are bolder
They'd have uniforms and guns when they were born
Why should we have wars about religion
When Jesus came to teach us not to kill
Do Zulus and Hindoos
Not have the right to choose
For I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

I didn't raise my son to be a soldier
I raised him up to be a gentleman
To find a sweet young girl and love and hold her
Bring me some grandchildren when they can
Why can't we decide that the Empire
Is just as large as it requires to be
And I'd rather lose it all
Than to see my laddie fall
For I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: autoharper
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 11:36 AM

Morton Harvey recorded this song in 1915 a few years before the USA entered WWI and the song was very popular. As soon as America entered the war in 1917, Morton Harvey's career was finished. His record was called "I Didn't Raise My Boy To Be a Soldier," and 100 years later, we have few anti-war as undated as this one.

Curiously, the songs composers were not so affected by Harvey's unpopularity, and continued to have wartime hits. Alf Bryan wrote "Oui, Oui, Marie," and Al Piantadosi wrote "Send Me Away With A Smile."

-Adam Miller

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 05:09 PM

The lyrics sing4peace posted are more or less what Guy and Candie Carawan sing on "The Land Knows You"re There" (1986). They use 'Boy' instead of 'Son' in the title, and give Al Piantadosi and Alfred Bryan as authors, but the tune they use is quite different from Hamish's. His version is posted above by Murray MacLeod.

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Joy Kipp
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:27 AM

I am hoping someone can please help me. I have written a theatrical play that incorporates different music from throughout history and across cultures. In one scene, the main characters sing "I didn't Raise my Son To Be A Soldier (A Mother's Plea for Peace)" by Bryan and Piantadosi. In order for me to get the play produced, it is necessary for me to obtain the rights to use this music. Do you happen to know who I should contact to obtain the rights?

Thank you so much. I am in the process of sending my script out to different theatre companies and it would be very helpful to have the legalities in place before we get too far in the production process!

THANK YOU!

Best regards,
:) Joy
Burlington, VT USA
802-598-6879
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: Anglo
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 01:11 PM

If it was written in 1915, isn't it PD at this point?

There's a new recording by Mick Moloney with this song on it. "If It Wasn't for the Irish and the Jews." And a CD launch concert in Symphony Space (NYC) on Oct 24. I'll be there.

Subject: RE: I didn't raise my son to be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Joseph de Culver City
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 01:16 PM

Joy Kipp-
Al. Piantadosi was my great-uncle. I'm pretty sure that song is public domain, but it was originally cleared through ASCAP.


Good luck, Joseph Piantadosi

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Margie
Date: 26 Aug 14 - 09:18 AM

So beautiful!!. Can't believe I have never heard it before , how can I hear the audio. Thankyou. Margie

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 19 Feb 16 - 04:58 PM

I Didn't Raise My Son etc was made so popular by Cecilia John in Australia in WW1 that it was banned under the War Precautions Act. The lyrics are available on the Folkstream website.
The only recording I have heard on utube is the American with 'Boy' in the title and lyrics. I understand that when American protestors revived the song during the Vietnam years, they also used 'Son', possibly because by then they were aware that Black Americans might find boy offensive.
I wonder whether John might have been aware of the Boer War version (later recorded by Hamish Imlach). I have not seen Imlach's lyrics or heard his singing but would like to.
As far as I know, there is no recording of Cecilia John.
Cheerio
Tony

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 19 Feb 16 - 05:45 PM

Hamish had the first verse only, and as I recall a different tune from the original. He asked me to write the rest of the verses given above as the British version, so he could record the song.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 19 Feb 16 - 07:09 PM

Thanks Ewan
so, can I ask which is the version you were working from?
Where did those lyrics come from? Did Hamish use the American tune?
Pardon my ignorance on all this. I have not actually heard Hamish's song.
I must say it is exciting to hear from you, Ewan.
Cheerio
Tony

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: JennieG
Date: 19 Feb 16 - 11:56 PM

Here's a link to the sheet music - "I didn't raise my son to be a soldier"

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 20 Feb 16 - 05:01 PM

Thanks JennieG. Yes. This is the version I first came across and as far as I have found, this American version is the only one of which there is a recording on the internet.
As the lyrics used by Cecilia John in Australia differ somewhat, I became interested when someone suggested that Hamish Imlach's version might have harked back to an even earlier song than the American. ie c.1900 in Britain. I wondered whether our Australian anti-war movement might have been aware of the British song, but have found no proof at this stage. Fascinating search though, so thanks again JennieG.
Cheerio, Tony

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Feb 16 - 10:15 PM

The copyright date on Page 2 of that song (first page of the song) is MCMXV - 1915.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 01:02 AM

Yes Jennie
That is exactly why I am so interested in the possibility that there was an earlier British song.
Thanks
Tony

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 07:49 AM

Hi Tony,

This is [approximately] the chorus that Hamish sang to me, in around 1970.

I didn't raise my son to be a soldier
I brought him up to be my pride and joy
Who dares to put a musket on his shoulder
To shoot another mother's darling boy
Why should he fight in someone else's quarrels
It's time to throw the sword and gun away
There would be no war today
If the nations all would say
No I didn't raise my son to be a soldier

He knew only this, and wanted more verses, I talked about the Little England - as opposed to Great Britain - protesters in Britain about the Boer Wars, and I wrote verses that aimed to reflect that time and the appropriate references.
Later I learned from a book by Tony Palmer on Popular Music that the original song makers in 1917 with the US entry into WW1 rewrote their song to be I'm Glad My Son Grew Up To Be A Soldier.
Professional songwriters, eh?
Re the tune - need to check that and come back to you.
Ewan

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 08:03 AM

Forgot to say who I was last time.
Checked out the versions of the 1915 song in Youtube, and indeed it is a far different tune from the one Hamish had. The original is a smooth four four marching time. Hamish's is a bouncy 6/8 brass band sort of tune, starting

me soh soh soh soh lah soh me so ME DOH
OR
e g g g g a g e g E   C

3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1x2 1x2
Hope that makes sense.
Ewan

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 01:58 PM

Knew I had heard a television concert broadcast of Marilyn Horne singing this song to a live audience.

"Marilyn Horne took a sentimental trip back to her childhood....she returned to her youthful performances at war bond rallies during World War II,...to the Firestone Hour that [her parents] listened to on the radio....

"....she won an unusually prolonged and enthusiastic response to a World War I song, 'I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier,' but it was difficult to determine whether the audience was cheering the sentiment of the song, or the skill with which Miss Horne carried off the final chorus in the manner of a Sophie Tucker recitative."

journalist: John S. Wilson
December 30, 1983 issue of the New York Times

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 01:58 PM

Knew I had heard a television concert broadcast of Marilyn Horne singing this song to a live audience.

"Marilyn Horne took a sentimental trip back to her childhood....she returned to her youthful performances at war bond rallies during World War II,...to the Firestone Hour that [her parents] listened to on the radio....

"....she won an unusually prolonged and enthusiastic response to a World War I song, 'I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier,' but it was difficult to determine whether the audience was cheering the sentiment of the song, or the skill with which Miss Horne carried off the final chorus in the manner of a Sophie Tucker recitative."

journalist: John S. Wilson
December 30, 1983 issue of the New York Times

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 03:19 PM

Thanks again Ewan!
It is so good to get this info from someone who 'was there' so to speak.
Do i conclude then that the Hamish song 'originated' in about 1980 rather than 1900?
I know what you mean about the business of songwriting. I've posted a few of mine at antiwarsongs.org and they hark back to WW1,hopefully raising topics which can only be sully appreciated in retrospect. e.g. 'the last man and the last shilling'.
Cheerio
Tony

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar
Date: 21 Feb 16 - 04:39 PM

Early 1970s I would say, Tony.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
From: GUEST,Guest Tony
Date: 22 Feb 16 - 01:42 AM

Thanks for your co-operation on this, Ewan.
I'll continue to look for a recording of Hamish singing the song. Do you happen to sing it yourself?
I am giving a paper on WW1 protest songs next month and will send you a link when it goes online.
Cheerio
Tony