World War One Concertina : Another Possible Book ?

[Terence]

Hi,
Thinking about other tunes book which could be made with a "theme", I wonder if a "world war one tunes" could be of interest ?

 

I listened to these songs and find them probably suited to a tune book :

"It's a long way to Tipperary" (1912, popular since 1914 with United Kingdom expeditionary forces coming to Boulogne-sur-Mer in France)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM-tFAdADg

 

"Waltzing Matilda" (1895, Australia)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvazMc5EfE

 

"Danny Boy" (on Londonderry Air, irish tune)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lj8Zg_PiN4

 

"Keep the home fires burning" (Ivor Novello, 1914)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P8UokgVqWs

 

"Pack up your troubles on your old kit-bag" (1915)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXcs1Vv3YlE

 

"Over there" (1917, when US declared war)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6hRDS3LvQQ

 

"Farewell to Slavianka" (1912 for Balkanic wars, but popular during WW1 among russian soldiers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJt_JdFwLw0

 

"Der Gute Kamerad" (Ich hatt' einen Kameraden, 1809 but very popular among german troops)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN-vN_zJvwE

 

"Lili Marleen" (1938 but from the poem Lied eines jungen Wachtpostens from 1915)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh4qe0Hp6RU

"Quand Madelon" (1917)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS2ML_0Ky0M

 

"There's a long long trail" (1914)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WdCCNXL6Uc

 

"Roses of Picardy" (1916)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ87ICmR-2k

 

"I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier" (1915, anti war song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2qOAgMCl4

 

"It's time for every boy to be a soldier" (1917, lyrics from the same author of previous song !!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX3SuMQJQLY

 

.....

 

 

 

There are surely more of popular songs to add ! See here this tracklist.

Here is an interesting article of UCSB Cylinder archive. Another (french) source (National library recordings)

 

Some other popular "tunes" of that time, such as from Debussy, Ravel or Holst are probably less suited to a tune book, I guess.

 

What do you think of it ? Gary Coover, after the Cowboy concertina, perhaps ?

 

[John Wild]

Other possible titles for inclusion:

 

We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried line

 

Who do you think you are kidding Mr.Hitler (theme from Dad's army)

 

Goodbye Dolly Gray

 

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

 

Obviously I need some sleep as I read "Quand Madelon" as "Quand Melodeon"

That is a comment, NOT another title!!

 

thank you and goodnight!

 

- John Wild.

Edited February 18, 2018 by John Wild

[Bob Michel]

I spent the better part of a year exploring this repertoire not too long ago. Here’s the YouTube playlist:

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGBWgBMt3xfeh1ox7Hp-3d32PGAeIPaxH

 

And here’s the discussion thread, with documentation for all the songs, that accompanied it on this site:

 

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=17935

 

There are plenty of omissions, as my choices were skewed toward Tin Pan Alley (i.e., American) songs of the period, whether war-themed or not. But I tried to strike a balance between familiar chestnuts and more obscure numbers, to give a sense of what people were singing on this side of the Atlantic, at any rate, in the teens of the last century.

 

I had a lot of fun working up (Anglo) concertina arrangements for the songs. Enjoy!

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

[mathhag]

I spent the better part of a year exploring this repertoire not too long ago. Here’s the YouTube playlist:

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGBWgBMt3xfeh1ox7Hp-3d32PGAeIPaxH

 

And here’s the discussion thread, with documentation for all the songs, that accompanied it on this site:

 

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=17935

 

There are plenty of omissions, as my choices were skewed toward Tin Pan Alley (i.e., American) songs of the period, whether war-themed or not. But I tried to strike a balance between familiar chestnuts and more obscure numbers, to give a sense of what people were singing on this side of the Atlantic, at any rate, in the teens of the last century.

 

I had a lot of fun working up (Anglo) concertina arrangements for the songs. Enjoy!

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

 

This is just a wonderful set of tunes. Thank you

[Roger Hare]

A good source of songs might be:

 

'When This Bloody War is Over: Soldiers' Songs of the First World War' by Max Arthur.

I don't think there are any scores in the book though - just words.

And, of course, the songs from 'Oh What A Lovely War':

Row Row Row and The Circus Parade

Twelfth Street Rag

Your King and Country Want You

Belgium put the Kaibosh on the Kaiser

Are we Downhearted?

Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy!

Make a Man of You!

Hitchy Koo

Gassed Last Night

Hush! Here Comes a Whizzbang

They Were Only Playing Leapfrog

I Wore a Tunic

Forward Joe Soap’s Army

When This Lousy War is Over

Whiter than the whitewash on the Wall

I Want to go Home

The Bells of Hell

Adieu Le Vie

I Don’t Want to be a Soldier

And When they Ask Us

Roger

Edited February 19, 2018 by lachenal74693

[Rod]

Is anyone going to volunteer to extend this topic to include songs of the Second World War ?

[Roger Hare]

Is anyone going to volunteer to extend this topic to include songs of the Second World War ?

 

About 40 years ago, I remember either reading somewhere, or being told by a knowledgable person, that

unlike WWI, WWII produced very few songs. How true that is, I don't know but it sounds like a pretty

flaky argument to me. Instantly, I can think of my two all-time favourites, both of which I can mangle on

the concertina:

 

Banks of Sicily (a.k.a. 51st Division's Farewell to Sicily).

Lili Marlene/D. Day Dodgers (same tune)

 

plus, with a little reflection:

 

As Time Goes By (from Casablanca)

Der Fuhrer's Face (Spike Jones)

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (Andrews Sisters)

Imagine Me on the Maginot Line (George Formby, also I Did What I Could With My Gas Mask)

In the Mood (Glen Miller, also String of Pearls, Moonlight Serenade etc.)

Kiss Me Goodnight Sergeant Major (Arthur Askey)

When the Lights go on Again

White Cliffs of Dover (Vera Lynn, also We'll Meet Again)

 

Some of the 2nd list are (arguably) just tunes which happened to become popular during WWII?

 

There's a Wikipedia page 'Songs of World War II': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_of_World_War_II which is a bit more

interesting to may way of thinking.

 

There's also a five-disc compilation '101 Songs That Won World War II': https://www.allmusic.com/album/101-songs-that-won-world-war-ii-mw0001313416.

This also contains material which is not directly related to WWII but just happened to come along during WWII.

 

R

Edited February 28, 2018 by lachenal74693

[Rod]

One of the vivid memories of my Second World War childhood was the amount of whistling of the popular tunes of the day, by all and sundry as they went about their business in public places. I don’t suppose the lyrics of these songs always bore any particular relevance to the war, and modern technology seems now to have largely confined such cheery performers ( some more accomplished than others ! ) to history.