Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune

Subject: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 10:19 PM

I remarked recently on one of the Villikins·&·Dinah threads that it was probably the most reused of all tunes, except perhaps for John·Brown/Battle·Hymn. There have been threads [notably one with 60+ hits in 2004] on all the songs people could think of to Villikins; but Search didn't produce a comparable one for John·Brown.

So — how many songs can we think of using this tune? — Here are a couple to start things off from my own campfire/back·of·coach sort of memories:

"When the Red Revolution Comes" ['We'll make Monty Burton wear a 50 shilling suit...']

"He'd like to find the WAAF who left her handbag in his chute" ['They scraped him off the tarmac like a lump of strawberry jam So he wont go jumping any more...']

Contributions, please?

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Peace
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 11:00 PM

Mark Twain's "Battle Hymn of the Republic (brought down to date)."

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Peace
Date: 12 Oct 09 - 11:31 PM

There is another which was performed by Pat Sky on his album--later CD--entitled "Songs That Made America Famous."


"The Ribald Rebel's Song (Fight for Liberation)". The song and the parody are in the DT. I was under the impression that Pat wrote the lyrics, but I could well be mistaken. Haven't heard the record in decades.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 12:13 AM

Ballad of Harry Lewis, by Allan Sherman.

Subject: From the filk community...
From: JesseW
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 01:19 AM

Well, from a quick scan of (part of) my filk song index (adapted from the M.A.S.S. F.I.L.C. Index), I get the following filk songs written to Battle Hymn of the Republic:

A Modern Folksong
APA '45 Forever: or, The Teenfan Tyrannty Song
A Song in Praise of the Warriors of the Middle Kingdom
Battle Hymn of Hastings
Battle Hymn of the Rebellion
Glory, Glory, Science Fiction
Hordes of Mordor
Quark's Song
Salute to Shadowcon
The Battle Hymn of the Helpers
The Battle Hymn of the Ranapublic
The Filker's Bronx Cheer
The Hacker's Battle Hymn
The Techfan Tyranny Marching Song: or, APA '45 Forever
The Theme Song of the U.S.S. Enterprise
The Thermodynamics Final
TurkeyCon '77
Westercon 23: or The Con-Coordinator's Lament
1, 2, 3, 4 ... Testing
The Bradbury Hate Song
The Klingon Diplomatic Corps Marching Song: or, Imperialism for Fun and Profit
The L.A.S.F.S. Marching Song
The Teenfan Tyranny Marching Song
Westercon 23: or The Con Co-Ordinator's Lament

I don't have the lyrics for most of these, but I thought I'd toss it out here anyway...

For those who don't yet know, filk refers to the folk songs of science fiction fans -- which often involves writing new lyrics to existing tunes, as in the above cases.

Jesse Weinstein

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: oldhippie
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 07:40 AM

The Preppy Song - Oscar Brand is one of them. Oscar actually once performed a concert just using the one tune.

Psychotherapy - Melanie

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 07:40 AM

Marcia and Jon Pankake's book, Joe's Got a Head Like a Ping-Pong Ball - A Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book, has an index where the songs are arranged by tune. The most popular by far is BHotR. The songs/parodies listed under this heading are

Birmingham's My Home
The Bugs Marched Down the Aisle
The Bulldog and the Bullfrog
Chicken Sandwich
Emily Dickinson
Glory, Glory, How Peculiar
Glory, Glory, Pork Superior
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Horror of the Ending of the Term
My Pink Pajamas
Oh, Ay Liff in Minneapolis
She Waded in the Water

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: autoharper
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 08:24 AM

And "Solidarity Forever."

The melody and its early lyrics were written by William Steffe about 1856. Its first verse and refrain were:

Say brothers, will you meet us?
Say brothers, will you meet us?
Say brothers, will you meet us?
On Canaan's happy shore?

Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
Glory, glory hallelujah!
For ever, evermore!

The song first gained popularity around Charleston, South Carolina, where it was sung as a Methodist Camp Meeting song, particularly in churches belonging to free Blacks. By contrast, it was also used early on as a marching song on army posts.

The song gathered new verses following the insurrection at Harper's Ferry, led by John Brown and carried out by a cadre of nineteen men on October 16, 1859. Brown's actions, trial and subsequent execution made him a martyr to Abolitionists and African-Americans and prompted some people to add the following lines to Steffe's by then popular song.

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
His soul is marching on!

By the time of the Civil War "John Brown's Body" had become a very popular marching song with Union Army regiments, particularly among the black troops. The Twelfth Massachusetts Regiment, in particular, has been credited with spreading the song's fame on their march to the South, where Confederate soldiers then inverted the meaning of their words and sang, "John Brown's a-hanging on a sour apple tree." The war's rivalry continued to be carried on in music as the northerners then sang in turn, "They will hang Jeff Davis to a sour apple tree."

But it was when Julia Ward Howe visited Washington, DC in 1861 that the tune properly came to be called "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Howe and her husband, both of whom were active abolitionists, experienced first-hand a skirmish between Confederate and Union troops in nearby Virginia, and heard the troops go into battle singing "John Brown's Body." That evening, November 18, 1861, Ward was inspired to write a poem that better fit the music. It began "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Her poem, which was published in the Atlantic Monthly in February 1862 soon became the song known as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

At Lincoln's 1864 inauguration, groups of angry Democrats sang, "We'll hang Abe Lincoln from a sour apple tree" to the same tune.

The "Sons of Liberty," the men who plotted the murder of Lincoln, had their own "Battle Hymn of the Sons of Liberty:"

We are coming, Ab'ram Lincoln, from mountain wood and glen
Yes, we're coming Ab'ram Lincoln with the ghosts of murdered men
Yes, we're coming Ab'ram Lincoln with curses loud and deep
That will haunt you in your waking and disturb you in your sleep

-Adam Miller

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 09:32 AM

Many thanks, Adam — brilliant post

Michael

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Severn
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:02 AM

I do some songs to this tune. One is a Civil War song from the Weatern theater of war song that Sandy Paton recorded Frank Proffitt singing (Folkways FA 2360) entitled "Old Abe". In it is the quintessential verse that, plugged into the war of your choice/experience, expresses the sentiments of many a soldier in an occupying army as well as anything I've ever heard:

Old Abe, he freed the colored man, glory hallelu
Old Abe, he freed the colored man, glory hallelu
I wish to my Lord that he would free me too
Then I'd go marching home....




The aforementioned Oscar Brand, in the course of the 2 CD reissue of four of the five military song LPs that he released for Elektra (Collectors' Choice Music CCM 679)covering each service branch (There was a second Air Force LP), sings three songs to that tune, with only the Marines lacking one, "We Ain't Going To Sea No More", "Glory Flying Regulations" and "The Paratrooper's Song". Occaisionally, when I sing "Ain't Going To Sea", I do a repeat on the last chorus while telling the audience to follow closely, usually....

Holy Jesus, what a helluva way to die,
Teacher hit me with a ruler
Jesus puts his money in the First National Bank
For the union makes us strong.

....but with the occaisional substitution as the mood suits me, just to remind folks how many songs they grew up with or sing that use the tune. After I've sung it, I've had several guys later sing me "The Paratrooper's Song", which they managed to learn back in their Boy Scout days, so it's amazing how these songs get spread around.

As befits the folk process, each succeeding generation of kids I've been around all sing "Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory Of The Burning Of The School" but with different variations of the words with each kid.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Richie
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:07 AM

Popular old-time version:

Pass around the Bottle and We'll All Take a Drink

Richie

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:12 AM

The Firth of F*ing Forth:

http://www.campin.me.uk/Embro/Webrelease/Embro/16army/text/FirFlFor.htm

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Bernard
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:12 AM

Erm...



Knock, knock!



Who's there?



Mayonnaise!



Mayonnaise who?



Mayonnaise have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord...!

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 03:39 PM

Glory glory Hallelujah
Someone please hit him with a ruler!!!!

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 07:52 PM

Adam Miller: When my mother was a girl, it was "Kaiser William" they were going to hang to a sour apple tree. I dare say it had borne a variety of strange fruit over the years.

*

_Rise Up Singing_ offers an uninspiring "Battle Hymn of Women" (but omits the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"!).

*

For an application at Caltech, see the thread on fraternity songs (I can't look it up without losing what I have written).

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 09:12 PM

We recorded a medley of three versions on our ShoreGrass album Songs of the Civil War Era (recorded live in 2003). The first 2 verses are from John Brown's Body. Next 2 are from the marching song of the 1st Arkansas (black) regiment, with lyrics credited to the white officer Capt Lindley Miller. Last 2 verses from the Battle Hymn of the Republic. My source for most of the information was Irwin Silber's book "Songs of the Civil War."

John Brown's Body, 1st of Arkansas, Battle Hymn of the Republic

John Brown's body lies a mould'ring in the grave
John Brown's body lies a mould'ring in the grave
John Brown's body lies a mould'ring in the grave
His soul is marching on!

He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord!
His soul is marching on!

Glory! Glory Hallelujah! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah! His soul is marching on.

Oh, we're the bully soldiers of the "First of Arkansas"
We are fighting for the union, we are fighting for the law
We can hit a Rebel further than a white man ever saw
As we go marching on.

See there above the center where the flag is waving bright
We are going out of slavery; we're bound for freedom's light
We mean to show Jeff Davis how the Africans can fight
As we go marching on!

Glory! Glory Hallelujah! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah! As we go marching on.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me
As he died to make men holy let us die to make men free
While God is marching on.

Glory! Glory Hallelujah! Glory! Glory Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: GUEST,iancarterb
Date: 13 Oct 09 - 11:44 PM

Mary Ann McCarthy she went out to dig some clams (3x)
But she didn't get a solitary one.
All that Mary got was oysters (3x)
But she didn't get a solitary clam.

This is known to my whole extended ten first-cousin family, 1940ish, and my parents and their inlaws, all born before or jsut after 1910, and I think it appears in the Best's SONG FEST as well.
Carter B

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: GUEST,Dani
Date: 15 Oct 09 - 02:45 PM

Thanks for posting those, Barbara. I have always loved that, especially:

"We can hit a Rebel further than a white man ever saw
As we go marching on."

Dani

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: greg stephens
Date: 15 Oct 09 - 02:51 PM

"Oh Sir Jaspar do not touch me" was a risque classic of my youth.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 Oct 09 - 03:10 PM

Jed Marum's John Brown is a bit different"
"Feet in the air
And the world is spinnin' 'round
You dance at the end of a line."

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: The Doctor
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 05:58 PM

Back in the 80s, when Aids was just becoming a serious issue in Britain, the government ran a series of adverts warning people about the dangers, and saying 'Don't die of ignorance'. The fact that quite a number of people believed there was a killer disease called Ignorance prompted me to write a set of words to this tune, beginning:

Always wear a condom if you want to save your life,
For that naughty Ignorance virus is becoming rather rife.
You can catch it from your partner and then give it to your wife
If you haven't got a condom on.

There is more if anyone's sufficiently interested.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 07:56 PM

One we used to sing at Guide camp:

He jumped from 40,000 feet without a parachute x 3
And he ain't gonna jump no more.
Glory, glory, hallelujah, etc
He ain't gonna jump no more.

They scraped him off the tarmac like a lump of strawberry jam x 3
And he ain't gonna jump no more, etc

And one that Hamish Imlach used to sing:

A fine Old English Gentleman       Charles Dickens – written 1841
Sung by Hamish Imlach as "The Fine Old English Tory Times"

I'll sing you a new ballad, and I'll warrant it first-rate,
Of the days of that old gentleman who had that old estate;
When they spent the public money at a bountiful old rate
On ev'ry mistress, pimp, and scamp, at ev'ry noble gate,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

The good old laws were garnished well with gibbets, whips, and chains,
With fine old English penalties, and fine old English pains,
With rebel heads, and seas of blood once hot in rebel veins;
For all these things were requisite to guard the rich old gains
Of the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

This brave old code, like Argus, had a hundred watchful eyes,
And ev'ry English peasant had his good old English spies,
To tempt his starving discontent with fine old English lies,
Then call the good old Yeomanry to stop his peevish cries,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

The good old times for cutting throats that cried out in their need,
The good old times for hunting men who held their fathers' creed,
The good old times when William Pitt, as all good men agreed,
Came down direct from Paradise at more than railroad speed. . . .
Oh the fine old English Tory times;
When will they come again!

In those rare days, the press was seldom known to snarl or bark,
But sweetly sang of men in pow'r, like any tuneful lark;
Grave judges, too, to all their evil deeds were in the dark;
And not a man in twenty score knew how to make his mark.
Oh the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

Those were the days for taxes, and for war's infernal din;
For scarcity of bread, that fine old dowagers might win;
For shutting men of letters up, through iron bars to grin,
Because they didn't think the Prince was altogether thin,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!


But Tolerance, though slow in flight, is strong-wing'd in the main;
That night must come on these fine days, in course of time was plain;
The pure old spirit struggled, but Its struggles were in vain;
A nation's grip was on it, and it died in choking pain,
With the fine old English Tory days,
All of the olden time.

The bright old day now dawns again; the cry runs through the land,
In England there shall be dear bread -- in Ireland, sword and brand;
And poverty, and ignorance, shall swell the rich and grand,
So, rally round the rulers with the gentle iron hand,
Of the fine old English Tory days; Hail to the coming time!

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Peace
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:00 PM

"There is more if anyone's sufficiently interested."

YES, please.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:17 PM

Aye to that too the Doctor!

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:19 PM

Jesus keeps his money in the National Savings Bank (3 times)
Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Oct 09 - 08:42 PM

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of Magee
He is coming down the alley in a souped-up Model T
With one hand on the throttle and the other on a bottle
Of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: raredance
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 12:18 AM

Battle Hymn of the Ranch Hands

My eyes have seen the Ranch Hands as they start a spray to pass.      
Dropping to low altitude as .50s come through the grass;
They've got one hand on the throttle and the other on a bottle
Of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer!

Glory. glory. what a hell of a way to spray.
Glory. glory. what a hell of a way to spray.
Glory. glory. what a hell of a way to spray.
And hope to do it again another day!

- In Vietnam "ranch hands" were the crews of the planes spreading defoliants such as Agent Orange.


Battle Hymn of the 85-mm Gunner

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the corning of the force.
And Uncle Ho has yelled and cussed and screamed till he is hoarse.
"Go out and man your guns. my boys. you have a job to do."
The Thuds are corning in!

CHORUS (repeat after each verse):
Gory. gory. what a helluva way to die.
Gory. gory. what a helluva way to die.
Gory. gory. what a helluva way to die.
I don't want to fight no more!

Now as the Thuds are getting close. beside my gun I stand;
We all should feel quite proud to stand in defense of this land;
But getting my ass blown to bits is not what I call grand;
The Thuds are coming in!

There's 750s all around. the sky is full of shit.
And smoke and dust and arms and legs. don't like it one damn bit;
If they miss me, this last time I think that I shall quit;
The Thuds are coming in!

We got hit and now are down below in Commie hell;
Each day they scare us pissless in a way we know so well;
Our Commie Satan he stands up, you hear that bastard yell
The Thuds are coming in!

This is written from the pint of view of North Vietnamese artillery gunner

Both songs from: "Singing The Vietnam Blues" by Joseph F. Tuso (Texas A&M University Press, 1990)

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: The Doctor
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 06:22 AM

The full set then:

                  First Aids

Always wear a condom if you want to save your life,
For that naughty Ignorance virus is becoming rather rife.
You can catch it from your partner and then give it to your wife
If you haven't got a condom on.

Ch: Always do it in a condom                              x3
       Is the government advice.

Always wear a condom if you want to dip your wick,
For that naughty Ignorance virus, it will make you very sick,
And there's no one who can aid you, it's a thing you cannot lick,
If you haven't got a condom on.

Always wear a condom, for it's surely here to stay,
And that naughty Ignorance virus, it could get you any day.
So don't be feeling casual, and don't be feeling gay
If you haven't got a condom on.

They have got it in America, and now it's over here,
That naughty Ignorance virus, it could make you very queer,
And though you keep a look-out, it could get you in the rear
If you haven't got a condom on.

It came marching out of Africa, and now it's everywhere,
That naughty Ignorance virus that has started such a scare,
And if you're careless with your naughty bits we'll soon be rather rare,
So always have a condom on.

                                     (Tune: John Brown's Body)

It was written to instruct and amuse, not to offend.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Susan of DT
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 07:56 AM

I added twenty more songs to the list above. I searched for the tunefile name.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 09:04 AM

The Irish Rovers made a hit out of

My father was a Protestant, an Ulsterman was he
My mother was a Catholic girl, from County Cork was she
They were married in two churches, lived happily enough
Until the day that I was born and things got rather tough.

Oh it's the biggest mixup
That you have ever seen
My father he was Orange
And me mother she was Green.

etc.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Severn
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 09:51 AM

Jim Carroll,

After we'd sing Jesus Saves the three times, we'd tack on "Moses Invests!"

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: GUEST,Young Buchan
Date: 19 Oct 09 - 12:39 PM

Old song from Suffolk. Presumably Music Hall originally.

Now some of you doubters and pedants may be about to point out that the verse of JBB has 4 lines, each of the first three having 11 syllables, whilst this has 8 lines, each of the first seven having 13 syllables.

I say, shame on your doubting and pedantry. It works. Somehow. Keep using the tune of the first two lines of JBB until you realise you are near the end. Then escape into line three. As for the extra syllables - they fit sideways!

Down to Betsy Taylor's house so merrily we piled
Where the baby boy was born, a lovely little child.
The neighbours came from miles around, the aunts and uncles too;
They were full of admiration when the baby came in view.
We gave the baby half a crown and everything was grand
Until someone took the money from the little darling's hand
And spent it buying bitter beer till we could hardly stand.
And we all went rolling home.
CHO. We were christening the baby (x3)
And we all went rolling home.

When the christening time came round the crowds flocked in galore.
There were thousands packed inside the church and more outside the door.
The parson he came in and said, "Hello you drunken set.
Now what name dost thou wantest me to give the little pet?"
We said we'd call it Betsy but the parson meek and mild
Looked the baby over and answered with a smile
"Thou canst not call it Betsy, 'cos it ain't that kind of child."
And we all went rolling home.

When it all was over we went out to the gate
We said sorry to the parson for being in a state.
The parson held his hand out and asked for LSD
But none of us had got a bob to pay the christening fee.
The parson he got angry and demanded half a quid.
He said "Who's going to pay me now for all the work I did?"
So just to save an argument we let him keep the kid
And we all went rolling home.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Micca
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 08:00 PM

I used this tune for, what became, the first of my trilogy of World War I songs, the rhythm was in my head while I was writing and I thought I would easily find another tune that would fit later WRONG!!! there are no others that fitted!! anyway since I was writing about the Reservists and first volunteers that went out with the BEF in 1914 I decided that they were very likely to "borrow" an existing tune. here is a flavour of it

"We Think we Ought to Go

Young men they came forward and signed up for to go
they knew that "Gods on our side and we're right"
white feathers fell around them like the freshly fallen snow
as they marched off to Flanders for to fight

Rifle smart and dressed in Khaki
Home by Christmas what a Lark eh?
Rifle smart and dressed in Khaki
as they marched off to Flanders for to fight

And they sang of "Tipperary" and Of there "old kit bag"
and songs of other wars of long ago
They sang to keep the spirits up not let their shoulders sag
to the strains of " We think we ought to go"

Rifle smart and dressed in Khaki
Just like strolling through the park eh?
Rifle smart and dressed in Khaki
to the strains of " We think we ought to go"

But what was waiting for them at Mons and Le Cateau
Some of them hadn't even time to load
when lines and files of Germans dressed in the old Feldgrau
came storming down what became the Menin Road

Rifle smart and dressed in Feldgrau
shooting Tommys from the Hedgerow
Rifle smart and dressed in Feldgrau
storming downthe Menin Road

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 12:03 AM

I've done a sailor version along the lines of

John Brown's daughter is a puta, so I'm told
Her wrists is decked with silver and her ankles decked with gold
She plies the ports of Chile as her mother did of old
As we go rolling home
etc.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 12:20 PM

...Jesus keeps his money in the National Savings Bank (3 times)
...Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves!
Jim Carroll...


...After we'd sing Jesus Saves the three times, we'd tack on "Moses Invests!"
Severn...



Revisiting this thread, reminded by this exchange of the great graffiti, "Jesus saves ~ but Lineker scores on the rebound".

Any more, now we're back?

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 01:04 PM

I've mentioned this in some other thread here, but the tune is also used for a dance/song from the Gyimes/Felcsik area of eastern Transylvania, with a refrain beginning "Golya, Golya" ("Stork, stork" in Hungarian) at the point where the English has "Glory, glory" (the sounds of the words are disconcertingly similar). The dance is a round-the-room march rather like a Gay Gordons. The last few notes of the tune are a bit different from the American version.

I asked where they got the tune and the consensus was that it was one of theirs. If they're right, one guess is that it might have gone to America at the right time with emigrants fleeing the troubles of 1848, but a lot of Central European music was travelling the world around then without the impetus of insurrectionary violence driving it - polkas and waltzes, in particular.

But I can't find a transcription of the Hungarian words or even a coherent explanation of what they were about. It will be a regular item in Budapest "tanchaz" ceilidhs, so somebody who goes to those might be able to help.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: puck
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 01:34 PM

'Ain't the airforce f*****g awful' - old original Naafi song from the second world war.
P

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 08:06 PM

From Rapaire last October:

"My father was a Protestant, an Ulsterman was he
My mother was a Catholic girl, from County Cork was she
They were married in two churches, lived happily enough
Until the day that I was born and things got rather tough.

Oh it's the biggest mixup
That you have ever seen
My father he was Orange
And me mother she was Green".

Never heard it sung to that tune: the version I know is sung to the tune of "The Rising of the Moon" or "The Wearing of the Green".

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 08:40 PM

puck - I linked to that RAF song already, "The Firth of F***ing Forth".

Subject: ADD: John Brown's Ford
From: Kent Davis
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 09:48 PM

My Fourth Grade teacher taught us this during the '69-'70 school year at Edisto School, in Cordova, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. There were hand motions, but I no longer remember them.   

JOHN BROWN'S FORD

John Brown's Ford had a puncture in its tire.
John Brown's Ford had a puncture in its tire.
John Brown's Ford had a puncture in its tire.
And he patched it up with chewing gum.

For a long time, I was puzzled as to how John Brown's Ford could have a puncture in his TIE. Eventually, I realized that the teacher was using the non-rhotic Low Country pronunciation for tire.

Anybody else know this? If so, do you remember the hand motions?

Kent

Subject: RE: Songs to the John·Brown/Battle·Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 12 May 11 - 11:21 PM

Another song to this tune, from quite a different tradition: one of the several tunes used for setting of Hebrew words at beginning of verse in Psalm 133,"Hineh mah tov u-mah nayim shevet achim gam yahad [Behold how good and pleasant is a band of brothers all together]", popular among Jewish youth movements in mid C20. Only the chorus of JBB, the Glory Hallelujah bit, used - first 5 words 3x, then final line.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: cetmst
Date: 13 May 11 - 06:51 AM

We wear our silk pajamas in the summer when it's hot;
We wear our woollen flannels in the winter when it's not;
And sometimes in the springtime and sometimes in the fall,
We crawl beneath the sheets with nothing on at all.

Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory, hallelujah,
With nothing on at all.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: GUEST,Morgana
Date: 13 May 11 - 10:46 AM

There was a civil rights song in the late '60's (?) called "The Movement's Movin' on." I don't know the lyrics, but it was mentioned in a clipping in Broadside Magazine. I think it was by Len Chandler.

Move on over or we'll move on over you (3X)
Cause the movement's movin' on.

It was designed to reflect the more militant shift of the civil rights movement at the time.

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 13 May 11 - 11:42 AM

Re my psalm 133 post, original reads

הנה מה טוב ומה נים שבת אכים גם יהד

In re the 'silk pyjamas' variant above: in my far-off youth we would sing the verse as "She wears pink silk pyjamas in the summer, &c" to tune of "The Church's One Foundation" [yet another of those much recycled choons!]; followed by, to the tune of chorus of JBB, "She's a most immoral lady (x3) When she slips between the bedclothes with nothing on at all".

~M~

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: GUEST,dick.hamlet
Date: 13 May 11 - 01:30 PM

I'm sure that many school "fight" songs go to the tune. One
I remember from the 1960s (probably written at least ten years
earlier) is for Shimer College (SHY-mer), then located in
Mount Carroll, IL (now part of the IIT campus in Chicago).
Shimer taught the Hutchins curriculum originated at the University
of Chicago, using original readings and the discussion method
in classes. Like Univ. Chicago in its better days, Shimer had
no sports teams except a pick-up soccer group. Notes on obscure references follow.

SHIMER COLLEGE FIGHT SONG

Oh, my eyes have seen the glory of the triumph of the id
My libido has converted me to man from callow kid
My unconscious is unleashed and my superego's rid
And the id goes marching on

CHORUS:
Sociology forever, anthropology forever
Sensuality forever
Integration conquers all

Sublimation and frustration aren't any fun at all
So the Life Instinct each evening finds me at its beck and call
In Science, Metcalf, Dearborn, on the golf course, or North Hall
The id goes marching on.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of our Freud
Of error and all fallacy his works they are devoid
But after taking OMP my ego was destroyed
And the id goes marching on.

NOTES:

In the 2nd verse the places are buildings where students
could go after hours to make out. Or to an adjacent golf course
if the weather was good.

To describe its liberal-arts program, "integration" was the
buzzword: the courses were woven together, and tested by
exams emphasizing the interconnections. The culminating
course in the senior year was Organization, Methods, and
Principles of Knowledge (OMP), notorious for its difficulty
(or vagueness, some said).

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: Jim McLean
Date: 13 May 11 - 02:44 PM

We'll dig a trench along the border,
We'll dig a trench along the border
We'll dig a channel frae the North Sea tae the Tweed
And sail away from England wi' the SNP.

This is the chorus of a song I wrote about 45 years ago called The SNP (The Scottish Naval Patrol)

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 May 11 - 09:42 PM

The following was sung by various characters at a celebration of Linus Pauling's first Nobel Prize, at Caltech, 3 December 1954 (long before the NSF):

Caltech's money comes from individuals not the state
A little from the Navy, maybe half but nothing great
It's really private enterprise that made the place so great
So make the Associates smile.

    Gather up a lot of money (3x)
    And watch Dr. DuBridge smile

Intellectual eminence won't get you very far
You need a research contract if you want to be a star
Forty-five percent for overhead will make you popular
And make Mr. George Green smile.

    Strive to get yourself a contract (3x)
    To make Mr. George Green smile.

From history of science, there a moral to be learned
Every chemist needs his patrons; filthy lucre can't be spurned
But don't forget that Galileo very nearly burned
So make those Associates smile.

    Strive to save department money (3x)
    And watch the Associates smile.

We turn out all the burners when we leave the lab at night
We close up all the windows and we turn out every light
The undenatured alcohol is safely out of sight
Just to make the Associates smile.

    Strive to save department money (3x)
    And watch Holmes Sturdivant smile.

To win a happy housewife, you must not pitch woo at me
To be a student here, I had to promise faithfully
To give my all for science and forsake felicity
And make those misogynists smile.

    Strive to rise in your profession (3x)
    And make Dean Lacey smile.

Experimental drudgery is now quite obsolete
I can sit here at my desk and place my head below my feet
And solve all nature's problems by an introspection neat
And make the academies smile.

    Theoretical creations
    Tennis balls can lead to inspiration (2x)
    And make the academies smile.

You needn't spend a lifetime doing chromatography
With my slick stochastic method and imagination free
The structure of the proteins is no mystery to me
I make those molecules smile.

    Theoretical creations
    Tinkertoys can lead to inspiration (2x)
    And make those molecules smile.

An Oscar for a movie star is easy to obtain
But to be a Nobel Laureate you need a mighty brain
When asked to give a lecture you must nod and not abstain
And make the audience smile.

    Make a lecture tour frequently (2x)
    Be sure to lecture eloquently
    And make your audience smile.

With Pauling as our chairman, life in Crellin is O.K.
Mistakes in our predictions do not cause us much dismay
From bond approximation we will never, never stray
And make Dr. Pauling smile.

    Make a first approximation
    Guess a first approximation
    Don't resort to calculation
    And make Dr. Pauling smile

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 30 May 11 - 04:07 AM

IIRC the "Only Playing Leapfrog[s]" variant hasn't figured here yet. It resurfaced in Theatre Workshop's composite theatrical presentation Oh What A Lovely War, directed by the first Mrs Ewan MacColl, Joan Littlewood,

---"stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! that Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop created in 1963, which was itself inspired by "The Donkeys," Alan Clark's 1961 attack on Gt War generalship", Wikipedia---

in the form "One staff officer jumped right over another staff officer's back[x4 ~~ They were only playing leapfrogs[x3], When one staff officer jumped right over another staff officer's back."

~M~

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: Richard from Liverpool
Date: 30 May 11 - 05:04 AM

I have here a copy of A Prarie Home Companion Folk Song Book ed. Marcia and Jon Pankake (collection method: stuff sent in over 5 years of people listening to A Prarie Home Companion and being asked to sent in songs you have heard from someone else, and that you remember the words of mostly.

The most used tune for the songs sent in was indeed Battle Hymn of the Republic. Here are the songs:
- Birmingham's My Home
- The Bugs Marched Down the Aisle
- The Bulldog and the Bullfrog
- Chicken Sandwich
- Emily Dickinson
- Glory, glory, how peculiar
- Glory, glory, pork superior
- The Great American Eagle
- Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School
- Mine Eyes Have Seen the Horror of the Ending of the Term
- My Pink Pajamas
- Oh, Ay Liff in Minneapolis
- She Waded in the Water

Subject: RE: Songs to the John Brown/Battle Hymn tune
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 30 May 11 - 01:08 PM

It comes back to me that the original verse of the "Only Playing Leapfrog" version, remembered from my childhood Junior Weekend Book, & as refd in "Lovely War", was "A spider spied a spider on another spider's back" &c

~M~