Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

  1. Eddie Sheehy
    An early anti-war tune. Played on an Eastman 815MDA Mandola.

  2. David Hansen
    David Hansen
    Nice one Eddie. I have always liked this tune and now I know why. It's Irish!
    Here's my stab at it:


  3. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Ok, I'm totally taken in by this tune! Obviously one I've heard forever, as I could immediately play it. Never realized it was Irish; it brings to mind the United States Civil War to me....

    Just like that last jig; I think this is a great 'exercise' tune for practicing getting DUD DUD ingrained into your right hand; I like picking this tune all eighth notes...
  4. Jim Baker
    Jim Baker
    X:1
    T:Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
    C:
    L:1/8
    Q:240
    M:6/8
    K:G
    E/D/ | "Em"B,2E E2F | G2F G2E | "D"D3 D2B, | D3 D2E | "Em"B,2E E2F | G2F G2A | B3 B2G | \
    B3 B2G/A/ | "Em"B2B BAG | "D"A2A AGF | "Em"G2G GFE | "Bm"F2F DFA | "Em"B2B "D"A2A | \
    "Em"G2G "Bm"FED | "Em"B,EE E2D | E3 E2F | "Em"G2B, B,DB, | D2B, B,DB, | EDE G2A | \
    B3 B2G/A/ | "Bm"BdB A2F | GFE F2D | "Em"B,EE E2D |E3E2 | \
    W:Created with TablEdit http://www.tabledit.com/
  5. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    This tune dates from the US Civil War, and was used for two separate well-known songs: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (first published 1863) and "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" (first published in 1867). However, the melody predates both sets of words.

    My instrumental version is based on this transcription by Klaus Stezenbach:

    http://www.kstez.de/Johnny_I_Hardly_...__Ireland_.pdf

    Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin
    Vintage Viaten tenor guitar



    Martin
  6. Aidan Crossey
    Aidan Crossey
    @Martin... Ian Lynch of Lankum has traced the origins of this tune back as far as at least 1651 where it appeared in a collection of English country dance tunes and he also highlights the Scottish song John Anderson as a precursor of Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye (as well as spotlighting more contemporary offshoots such as The Clash's English Civil War). If musicology is your bag you might want to check out https://www.mixcloud.com/DublinDigit...-october-2020/
  7. Martin Jonas
    Martin Jonas
    Thanks, Aidan. Tune variants and similarities are a thorny subject, getting thornier still with songs where lyric variants come into play as well. Wikipedia says that "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" was written by an English music hall performer and published in London in 1867, but originally to a different tune, whereas "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was published in September 1863, but the tune was already published a few month earlier for the Civil War drinking song "Johnny Fill Up the Bowl". Wikipedia does mention the link to "John Anderson My Jo" (and also to "The Three Ravens").

    I can sort of hear the relationship with John Anderson My Jo (great tune in its own right!), but it's a somewhat distant relationship. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye and When Johnny Comes Marching Home are a lot closer than that -- it's the same tune with different words. Fun tune, either way, very rousing which draws you into the words of "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" before you notice that it isn't a rousing song at all. My first encounter was through the 1961 Clancy Brothers record, which colours how I play the song.

    Martin
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