The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #111401   Message #2384183
Posted By: GUEST,Lighter
08-Jul-08 - 05:47 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Johnny I hardly knew ya
Subject: RE: Johnny I hardly knew ya
From Steven Cornelius, "Music of the Civil War Era" (2004), pp. 69-70. Missing link - or coincidence?:

"A San Francisco-based minstrel supplied the following chorus:

"And if they lost a leg the girls won't run,
For half a man is better than none,
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home."