Show ANIL abw 0 S U id limp owl in aa ki t 40 7 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON VER VEIL since the world began men have gone to war and going having sung songs among savages the singing of war songs bongs was nn an essential part of tho the preparation for battle but tn in so called civilized warfare soldiers sold lera have light ened campaign hardships or camp life monotony by singing about their officers oln eera their regiments what they the had to eat and the shelter or lack of it tn in which they slept as well as any number of other details ot their everyday life in this respect the soldiers of tile american army ever eier since there was tuch such on an institution have been no different from the soldiers of other nations what Is a typical cil american soldier song the answer Is there la is no such thing t the type of f song that was popular among our soldiers of one period the soldiers ot of another war would scorn to sing with but few exceptions perhaps the songs which were sung BUDS during one warace war are nil all but forgotten by the time another war cornea comes along for the soldier song Is one of the most ephe ephemeral things in the world fortunately for our national balladry there has haa recently been collected in one volume the greater part of our soldier songs from yankee doodle to parley von which are published under the tha title of sound off ditl I 1 by tho the cosmopolitan book corporation of now new york the collector of these songs la Is edward arthur dolph 0 of the ha united states military academy vc or west point and two brother officers on the academy staff have operated cooperated co with him in producing a piece of work which aside from its inherent interest has great historic value they are philip egner eaner teacher of music who arranged the music for many of the songs in n the book and lawrence schick instructor in drawing who made the illustrations in the foreword to the book peter B kyne a veteran of the tha spanish american and world wars ware makes the following comment A soldier song I 1 Is essentially a song of the people its melody roust must be simple the words either sad mad or humorous and it must have a resounding chorus in which the tone deaf can join without fear of discovery it Is for this reason that the most popular song of the bori 1 war was all we do Is sign th the pay noll boll sung to the tune 6 ne of john browns browna body then too it lent itself readily to improvisation I 1 remember a chief cook I 1 had ue ile had a bellowing baritone and was one of the tha funniest men I 1 ever linew ono one day after having passed through three british rest camps this fellow suddenly aud denly roared forth all we do la Is so go to rest camps A joyous shout eliout greeted this open opening frig line the men knew instantly what was coming and with mighty vigor indeed did they come in on the tha last line and we never got get a d d 1776 1929 bit ot of rest 11 11 ula ilia song was waa a hit I 1 the oldest american war ballad according to lieutenant dolph was waa losew Lov ewells ells fight written about 1715 in an commemoration of captain love lov wells wella victory w over cr the indiana at rig backet wachet on may alay 8 of that year just before the revolution the americans frequently wrote ballads ballada to express their ideas about tea aea and taxation these ballads however bo wever were not nearly so popular among the soldiers sold lera ot of the continental army as were songs bonga which dealt with events ot of the war itself such as aa the famous battle of the kegs hega mad anthony wayne brave paulding and the spy near nearly ay nil all of these these revolutionary songs were sung to tunes borrowed from the british saya say the tha author this was natural for soldier songs are ara gene generally pally sugg to old well known tunes or to popular music of the day it was not no until many years after the revolution that we began to have a national music of our own it la Is interesting to note that the one outstanding song of 0 the revolution the one oho which tins has survived longest in popular knowledge and which was wn tile the basis for other songs during duran alt all our wa wars ra down to and including ig tile the civil war was written originally by a british army surgeon this was the famous yankee doodle here to Is tho the story of its ita origin ns as lieutenant dolph teus tells it in the summer or early fall all of 1758 during tha french and indian war a army surgeon doctor richard Shuck shuckburgh burgh alio w ho hh bad spent most moat of tits his time in america was waa encamped alth general abercromble abercrombie on tho old van genss Ilens ss ss laer estate near albany A number dumber of 0 provincial troops were mobilizing there their rustle appearance was so BO ludicrous that doctor shuckburgh Shuck burgh who was s quite a wit wrote a song about them and set it to an old tune which we now know eg as Xan ken doodle 11 to the men inen who served in franco france a decade ago and sung sang of madelon 7 it may be a surprise to know that wadelow SIai Wa lelon delou was a soldiers sold lera sweetheart long before the world war in proof of that consider this stanza from rom n soldier song which appeared in one ot the earliest american songsters song and was probably sung in the war of 1812 1810 2 could you to battle march away and leave m me here complaining complain ins im gura aura t would break my heart to stay when you are ar gone campaigning ah oon non non bont gauvre madolon could never leave her bar lovert ah non non bout fauvre madelon adelon ll would go BO with you all the world over I 1 although the wor war of 1812 did not produce many soldier songs mainly because the army have much to boast about until near the end of the wart but there Is IB one exception to this statement and it Is one genuine soldier song that will live as long is as the republic the star spangled iian ban ner 1 11 for this product of tile inspiration ot of a volunteer soldier francis scott key has become our national anthem and had thrilled millions ot of americans even though not one out nit of u a hundred can sing aing it all the way through unlike the revolution and the wat of 1812 the mexican war produced nu no great outstanding song which has baa sur sut i to the present timo time in the tha main this conflict saw the revival ut of the favorite songs ot of the ibe two previous wars wara mentioned althou although gk the soldiers both volunteer and regular seized s igei izei up on the opportunity offered by barlous events in the caa campaigns to composo compose crude songs which were sung to familiar tunes no other war in our count rys history produced as many songs as thit th civil war says bays lieutenant dolph the si lasted so BO long lona and the tha feeling on each side was so intense that hundreds of songs bongs of all degrees of merit Appen appeared red 11 some of them teemed destined to bo be suns sung as long as the american nation lasts for such songs bongs as battle cry of freedom dixie battle hymn of the alc Ill onule blue flag fine Wa maryland ryland my maryland ll 11 have become un ua essential part of tho the american tradition not all ali of these songs were sung by the soldiers howe however vernor nor were wera they intended to be writes the author of sound oft off I 1 many were wholly unsuitable for camp or marching songs or were too far removed from thelin the in almate stark realities of a soldiers daily life AJI A a rule sentimental songs were not in great favor As the first wava of feel feeling lnig passed and men settled down to the serious business of fighting marching sleeping in them the and and iraln rain and living on sow now belly and beans beana their attention was more and more focused on en the immediate details of their dally life it was wa then thea that true soldier songs were born 11 I 1 for it wax it at this time that the essential character of the american soldier began to assert itself lits his ability to biake a jest about danger find and hardship and to seek an emotional outlet 1 by singing satirically about and his uncomfortable life that quat ity fly became even more apparent in the songs of the spanish american war and those of the philippine insurrection Jil and it reached its tull full flower in tho the world war the fact act that kinky dinky parley Is the outstanding survivor of the soldier tongs songs sung sune over there reflects as nothing else can the spirit of the young man who took part in the great adventure Ad ventura of and lik lest anyone deplore tho the tact fact that the world war songs breathed no none Q of ot the crusading spit let lei tins consider cons lder afi ciesa words of tte tin author auther of 0 sound perhaps after all it I 1 Is s a blessing bi es 81 n g that t h at these soldier a 0 jai er songs of 17 and 18 were light nonsensical and even bawdy As long as soldiers sing these kinds of songs they do not become cynical ad bitter as did the french germans and english the americana come came out of tile war with the quickly to regain their normal dermal perspective no feel feeling lill of hate bale rankles in their breasts today this tact fact along la Is worth more than all ail the war songs bongs that have ever endured |