It's a Long Way to Tipperary

Jack Judge's parents were Irish, and his grandparents came from Tipperary. Judge met Harry Williams (Henry James Williams, 23 September 1873 – 21 February 1924) in Oldbury, Worcestershire at the Malt Shovel public house, where Williams's brother Ben was the licensee. Williams was severely disabled, having fallen down cellar steps as a child and badly broken both legs. He had developed a talent for writing verse and songs, and played the piano and mandolin, often in public. Judge and Williams began a long-term writing partnership that resulted in 32 music hall songs published by Bert Feldman. Many of the songs were composed by Williams and Judge at Williams's home, The Plough Inn (later renamed The Tipperary Inn), in Balsall Common. Because Judge could not read or write music, Williams taught them to Judge by ear.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120710082343/http://www.tipperarywarsong.co.uk/gallery.php "The World's Most Famous Marching Song", TipperaryWarSong.co.uk]. Retrieved 15 July 2020

Judge was a popular semi-professional performer in music halls. In January 1912, he was performing at the Grand Theatre in Stalybridge, and accepted a 5-shilling bet that he could compose and sing a new song by the next night. The following evening, 31 January, Judge performed "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" for the first time, and it immediately became a great success. The song was originally written and performed as a sentimental ballad, to be enjoyed by Irish expatriates living in London. Judge sold the rights to the song to Bert Feldman in London, who agreed to publish it and other songs written by Judge with Williams.[http://historyofoldbury.co.uk/articles/article008%20-%20jack%20judge%20part%201.htm "Jack Judge - His Life and Music", History of Oldbury]. Retrieved 15 July 2020 Feldman published the song as "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" in October 1912, and promoted it as a march.

Feldman paid royalties to both Judge and Williams, but after Williams' death in 1924, Judge claimed sole credit for writing the song,{{Cite book | year=2009 | title = Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-loved Songs | author1=Max Cryer | publisher=Frances Lincoln Publishers | isbn=978-0-7112-2911-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/lovemetenderstor0000crye/page/188 188] | url=https://archive.org/details/lovemetenderstor0000crye| url-access=registration }} saying that he had agreed to Williams being co-credited as recompense for a debt that Judge owed. However, Williams' family showed that the tune and most of the lyrics to the song already existed in the form of a manuscript, "It's A Long Way to Connemara", co-written by Williams and Judge back in 1909, and Judge had used this, just changing some words, including changing "Connemara" to "Tipperary".{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25238656|title=World War One: Bet on It's a Long Long Way to Tipperary|date=24 February 2014|access-date=8 January 2021|website=BBC}}

Judge said: "I was the sole composer of 'Tipperary', and all other songs published in our names jointly. They were all 95% my work, as Mr Williams made only slight alterations to the work he wrote down from my singing the compositions. He would write it down on music-lined paper and play it back, then I'd work on the music a little more ... I have sworn affidavits in my possession by Bert Feldman, the late Harry Williams and myself confirming that I am the composer ...". In a 1933 interview, he added: "The words and music of the song were written in the Newmarket Tavern, Corporation Street, Stalybridge on 31st January 1912, during my engagement at the Grand Theatre after a bet had been made that a song could not be written and sung the next evening ... Harry was very good to me and used to assist me financially, and I made a promise to him that if I ever wrote a song and published it, I would put his name on the copies and share the proceeds with him. Not only did I generously fulfil that promise, but I placed his name with mine on many more of my own published contributions. During Mr Williams' lifetime (as far as I know) he never claimed to be the writer of the song ...".[http://historyofoldbury.co.uk/articles/article008%20-%20jack%20judge%20part%204.htm "Jack Judge 1872 - 1938: Part 4"]. Retrieved 15 July 2020

Williams's family campaigned in 2012 to have Harry Williams officially re-credited with the song, and shared their archives with the Imperial War Museums. The family estate still receives royalties from the song.{{cite news|last1=Fricker|first1=Martin|title=Song that won war: It's a long way to Tipperary and a long time to pay royalties|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/song-won-war-its-long-3160289|access-date=8 September 2018|publisher=Mirror|date=19 February 2014}}

In 1917, Alice Smyth Burton Jay sued song publishers Chappell & Co. for $100,000, alleging she wrote the tune in 1908 for a song played at the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition promoting the Washington apple industry. The chorus began "I'm on my way to Yakima"."'Tipperary'" Tune Stolen, She Says. Boston Daily Globe, 20 September 1917, p. 16 The court appointed Victor Herbert to act as expert advisor"Victor Herbert Is 'Tipperary' Expert," The New York Times, 27 September 1917, p. 10 and dismissed the suit in 1920, since the authors of "Tipperary" had never been to Seattle and Victor Herbert testified the two songs were not similar enough to suggest plagiarism."Loses 'Tipperary' Suit." The New York Times, 24 June 1920, p. 25.

The song was originally written as a lament from an Irish worker in London, missing his homeland.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Unlike popular songs of previous wars (such as the Boer Wars), it did not incite soldiers to glorious deeds, instead concentrating on the longing for home (as with the period song "Keep the Home Fires Burning").{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

:Up to mighty London

:Came an Irishman one day.

:All the streets were paved with gold

:So, everyone was gay,

:Singing songs of Piccadilly,

:Strand and Leicester Square,

:Till Paddy got excited,

:and he shouted to them there:

::Chorus

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::It's a long way to go.

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::To the sweetest girl I know!

::Goodbye, Piccadilly,

::Farewell, Leicester Square!

::It's a long long way to Tipperary,

::But my heart's right there.

:Paddy wrote a letter

:To his Irish Molly-O,

:Saying, "Should you not receive it,

:Write and let me know!"

:"If I make mistakes in spelling,

:Molly, dear," said he,

:"Remember, it's the pen that's bad,

:Don't lay the blame on me!"

::Chorus

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::It's a long way to go.

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::To the sweetest girl I know!

::Goodbye, Piccadilly,

::Farewell, Leicester Square!

::It's a long long way to Tipperary,

::But my heart's right there.

:Molly wrote a neat reply

:To Irish Paddy-O,

:Saying "Mike Maloney

:Wants to marry me, and so

:Leave the Strand and Piccadilly

:Or you'll be to blame,

:For love has fairly drove me silly:

:Hoping you're the same!"{{cite quote|date=February 2023}}

::Chorus

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::It's a long way to go.

::It's a long way to Tipperary,

::To the sweetest girl I know!

::Goodbye, Piccadilly,

::Farewell, Leicester Square!

::It's a long long way to Tipperary,

::But my heart's right there.

The parody "It's the Wrong, Wrong Way to Tickle Mary" was published (as sheet music) by J. Will Callahan and Charles Brown in the United States in 1915. The bawdy lyrics suggest the performances of concert parties on the front lines of the war:{{cite web |title=It's the Wrong, Wrong Way to Tickle Mary |website=Abe Books |url=https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Wrong-Way-Tickle-Mary-CALLAHAN-Will/31374483278/bd |access-date=6 February 2023}}{{cite web |title=It's the Wrong, Wrong Way to Tickle Mary |website=University of Oregon Libraries |url=https://library.uoregon.edu/sheetmusic/node/2937 |access-date=6 February 2023}}

::Chorus

::That's the wrong way to tickle Mary,

::That's the wrong way to kiss.

::Don't you know that over here, lad

::They like it best like this.

::Hoo-ray pour les français,

::Farewell Angleterre.

::We didn't know how to tickle Mary,

::But we learnt how over there.{{cite quote|date=February 2023}}

Feldman persuaded Florrie Forde to perform the song in 1913, but she disliked it and dropped it from her act.Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: an illustrated history, Pen & Sword, 2014, {{ISBN|978-1-78383-118-0}}, p.157 However, it became the hit song of 1913 and was widely popular when the First World War began the following year. British soldiers marching to Mons sang it.{{cite book|title=What a Lovely War! British Soldiers' Songs from the Boer War to the Present Day |year=1990 |first=Roy |last=Palmer |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780718133573 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gnXAAAAMAAJ }} Daily Mail correspondent George Curnock saw the Irish regiment the Connaught Rangers singing this song as they marched through Boulogne on 13 August 1914, and reported it on 18 August 1914. Soon, every British newspaper had printed the lyrics to the chorus and it became a popular and patriotic tune amongst civilians. However, as soldiers lost their optimism for a quick end to the war they came to abhor the sentimental song and jeered down attempts to start it.{{cite book|title=The Long Trail: What the British Soldier Sang and Said in the Great War of 1914–18 |first1=John |last1=Brophy |first2=Eric |last2=Partridge |year=1965 |publisher=A. Deutsch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UylnAAAAMAAJ |page=213}}{{cite book |title=Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and Other Canadian Concert Parties of the First World War |first=Jason |last=Wilson |year=2012 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press |isbn=9781554588442}} F. T. Nettleingham, a veteran and anthologist of songs from the war, noted that the song was "never Tommy's song ... never greatly sung" though it was often the subject of parody. That civilians continued to hold it to be the soldiers' anthem illustrated a gap in understanding and alienated the fighting men.

In November 1914, it was recorded by Irish tenor John McCormack, which helped its worldwide popularity.{{cite book|last=Gibbons|first= Verna Hale |year=1998|title=Jack Judge: The Tipperary Man|location= West Midlands|publisher= Sandwell Community Library Service|isbn= 1-900689-07-3}} There was also a popular recording by Mark Sheridan. In the United States, there were popular versions by Billy Murray,{{cite AV media | url=http://firstworldwar.com/audio/American%20Quartet%20&%20Billy%20Murray%20-%20It's%20A%20Long%20Long%20Way.mp3 | title=American Quartet & Billy Murray - "It's A Long Long Way" | format=MP3 | website=FirstWorldWar.com | access-date=6 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061216225229/http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/American%20Quartet%20%26%20Billy%20Murray%20-%20It%27s%20A%20Long%20Long%20Way.mp3 | archive-date=16 December 2006}} the American Quartet, Prince's Orchestra, and Albert Farrington.{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 |date=1986 |publisher=Record Research Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=531}}

The media of the time reported that the song was popular among soldiers despite (or because of) its irreverent and non-military theme, and was contrasted with the military and patriotic songs favoured by enemy troops. Commentators considered that the song's appeal revealed characteristically British qualities of being cheerful in the face of hardship. The Times suggested that "'Tipperary' may be less dignified, but it, and whatever else our soldiers may choose to sing will be dignified by their bravery, their gay patience, and their long suffering kindness... We would rather have their deeds than all the German songs in the world."[http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/its-a-long-way-to-tipperary-the-worlds-first-viral-11363926763037 Ian Mansfield, "It’s a Long Way to Tipperary - the world's first viral", BT.com, 14 August 2014]. Retrieved 15 July 2020

The song was featured as one of the songs in the 1951 film On Moonlight Bay, the 1960s stage musical and film Oh! What a Lovely War, and the 1970 musical Darling Lili, sung by Julie Andrews. It was also sung by the prisoners of war in Jean Renoir's film La Grande Illusion (1937) and as background music in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966). It is also the second part (the other two being "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire" and "Mademoiselle from Armentières") of the regimental march of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Mystery Science Theater 3000 used it twice, sung by Crow T. Robot in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996), then sung again for the final television episode. It is also sung by British soldiers in the film The Travelling Players (1975) directed by Theo Angelopoulos, and by Czechoslovak soldiers in the movie Černí baroni (1992).

It is also featured in For Me and My Gal (1942) starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly and Gallipoli (1981) starring Mel Gibson. It was sung by the crew of {{GS|U-96|1940|2}} in Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 film Das Boot (the arrangement was performed by the Red Army Choir). Morale is boosted in the submarine when the German crew sings the song as they begin patrolling in the North Atlantic Ocean. The crew sings it a second time as they cruise toward home port after near-disaster.

The cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show march off screen singing the song at the conclusion of the series' final episode, after news anchor Ted Baxter (played by Ted Knight) inexplicably recited some of the lyrics on that evening's news broadcast.

The song is often cited when documentary footage of the First World War is presented. One example of its use is in the annual television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966). Snoopy—who fancies himself a First World War flying ace—dances to a medley of First World War-era songs played by Schroeder. The song is included, and at that point Snoopy falls into a left-right-left marching pace. Schroeder also plays the song in Snoopy Come Home (1972) at Snoopy's send-off party. Also, Snoopy is seen singing the song out loud in a series of strips about his going to the 1968 Winter Olympics. In another strip, Snoopy is walking such a long distance to reach Tipperary that he lies down exhausted and notes, "They're right, it is a long way to Tipperary." On a different occasion, Snoopy walks along and begins to sing the song, only to meet a sign that reads, "Tipperary: One Block." In a Sunday strip wherein Snoopy, in his World War I fantasy state, walks into Marcie's home, thinking it a French café, and falls asleep after drinking all her root beer, she rousts him awake by loudly singing the song.

In 1916, survivors of the sinking of {{HMS|Tipperary|1915|6}} in the Battle of Jutland were identified by their rescuers on {{HMS|Sparrowhawk|1912|6}} because they were singing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" in their lifeboat.{{Cite web|title=The Fighting at Jutland|url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_seawarfare_jutlandfighting.htm|access-date=2018-10-09|website=www.kiplingsociety.co.uk}}

In 1942, as the Japanese hell ship Lisbon Maru was sinking, Royal Artillery POWs trapped in the vessel are reported to have sung the song.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-44814053|title=British POWs sank with the Lisbon Maru - should it be raised?|date=14 July 2018|access-date=8 January 2021|website=Bbc.com}}

File:Propaganda nazi en Francia.JPG.{{cite web |title=Artist Unknown: It's a Long Way to Rome 1943 |url=https://meehanmilitaryposters.com/product/artist-unknown-its-a-long-way-to-rome-1943/ |website=Meehan Military Posters |access-date=7 November 2020 |language=en}}]]

• Around 1915, labour activist Joe Hill wrote "It's a Long Way Down to the Soup Line" using the tune of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". The song first describes the plight of poor workers before the formation of a nationwide labour union consisting of all workers. Then, it describes the improved financial state of workers after a general strike by the nationwide labour union. Lastly it describes the wealth of the workers and the demise of the capitalists after a future communist revolution.{{cite web |title=It's a Long Way Down to the Soupline, song lyrics |url=http://www.protestsonglyrics.net/Labor_Union_Songs/Long-Way-Down-Soupline.phtml |website=Protest Song Lyrics |access-date=17 May 2023}}
• In 1916, the Daily Mirror published the song in the languages of the Empire, including a version translated into Cornish by Henry Jenner.Peter Berresford Ellis, The Cornish Language and its Literature, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1974.
• A Rhodesian version of the song, called "It's a Long Way to Mukumbura", became popular among Rhodesian soldiers during the country's Bush War in the 1970s.{{cite book

|title=A Walk Against The Stream: A Rhodesian National Service Officer's Story of the Bush War

|first=Tony

|last=Ballinger

|location=Solihull

|publisher=Helion and Company

|year=2015

|isbn=978-1-910294-43-7

|page=68}}

• The University of Missouri uses a version of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" as a fight song, renamed "Every True Son".{{Cite web|url=http://www.fightmusic.com/mp3/big12/Missouri__Every_True_Son_Fight_Tigers.mp3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403173627/http://fightmusic.com/mp3/big12/Missouri__Every_True_Son_Fight_Tigers.mp3|url-status=dead|title=University of Missouri fight song|archive-date=3 April 2007|access-date=8 January 2021}} It is usually played as part of a medley, followed by a cheer and then "Fight, Tiger."
• The University of Oregon uses a contrafact of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" as a fight song, renamed "Mighty Oregon".{{cite news|title='Mighty Oregon' sings of the past|url=http://dailyemerald.com/2006/11/12/mighty-oregon-sings-of-the-past/|newspaper=Daily Emerald|date=November 12, 2006|access-date=February 26, 2019}}
• "It's a Long Way from Amphioxus", a song parody written by Philip H. Pope, is sung by students and scientists as an affirmation of evolution. Originally recorded by Sam Hinton,{{cite web|title=The Sam Hinton Website – Sounds|url=http://www.samhinton.org/audio_video.html|publisher=Golden Apple Design|access-date=14 August 2012}} it is the official song of the Biological Sciences Division at the University of Chicago.[http://bscd.bsd.uchicago.edu/content/its-long-way-amphioxus University of Chicago: Biological Sciences Division] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821035749/http://bscd.bsd.uchicago.edu/content/its-long-way-amphioxus |date=21 August 2011 }}
• The Club Atletico River Plate sports club from Buenos Aires, Argentina used the music from the song to create its hymn.{{YouTube|Ij0ovaaV27I}}
• The song is referenced extensively in the 1917 Billy Murray song "The Further It Is From Tipperary, The Closer It Is To Berlin".{{Cite web|url=http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr+1=1020&num=1&start=1&query=cylinder6947|title=Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project|first=Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Collections|last=University of California|date=16 November 2005|website=Cylinders.library.ucsb.edu|access-date=8 January 2021}}
• The song is sung several times throughout the 2021 The Simpsons Season 32 episode "The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A.".{{Cite web |last=Bojalad |first=Alec |date=2021-05-17 |title=The Simpsons Season 32 Episode 21 Review: The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A. |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-simpsons-season-32-episode-21-review-the-man-from-grampa/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=Den of Geek |language=en-US}}
• Singer Tiny Tim recorded a cover of the song twice, first in 1968 as a part of a medley with "There Will Always Be an England" and "Bless 'Em All",{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEPTREfJRI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/BmEPTREfJRI |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Tiny Tim performs a medley, consisting of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"|website=YouTube |date=29 August 2014 }}{{cbignore}} then in 1980 for his Chameleon album.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq6NP3rrkSw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/iq6NP3rrkSw |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Tiny Tim's 1980 cover of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"|website=YouTube |date=13 April 2016 }}{{cbignore}}
• The song is a recurring motif in the 2020 film Six Minutes to Midnight, notably in the last scene, on the eve of WWII, when the German schoolgirls have been reunited with their beloved principal Rocholl (played by Judi Dench).{{cite journal|url=https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2021/07-08/six-minutes-to-midnight-the-league-of-german-girls/ |journal=Quadrant |title='Six Minutes to Midnight': The League of German Girls |author=Joe Dolce |date=21 August 2021}}
• The song is referenced in the 1977 finale episode (”The Last Show”) of the American sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show in series 7, episode 24.
• The Bill Caddick song "The writing of Tipperary / It's a Long Way to Tipperary" intersperses the story of Jack Judge's writing the song with a potted history of the run-up to the First World War, followed by the song itself. He sang it on his album "Sunny Memories" in 1977, and it was covered by June Tabor on her 1999 album A Quiet Eye.
• An adapted version of the song was the first anthem of the Brazilian football club, Fluminense Football Club in 1915.
• "It's A Long Long Way to Tipperary" was featured in several scenes in the classic movie Das Boot.
• The song is sung by Crow T. Robot in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie as he attempts to dig through the ship's hull to return to Earth.

• Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square (novel)
• "Tipperary", another popular song, from 1907
• List of best-selling sheet music

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{IMSLP2|work=It's a Long Way to Tipperary (Judge, Jack)|cname=It's a Long Way to Tipperary}}
• [http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ShtMus&CISOPTR=239&REC=1 Sheet Music for "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary"], Chappell & Co., Ltd., 1912.
• [http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/itsalongwaytotipperary.htm Full lyrics and early recordings]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004020/http://www.kannadaaudio.com/Songs/Bhaavageethe/TPKailasam/ThipparalliBaluDoora.ram Kannada Version written by Kailasam]
• [https://archive.org/download/AmericanQuartetwithBillyMurray_part1/AmericanQuartetwithBillyMurray-ItsALongLongWayToTipperaryWorldWarISong.mp3 Recording by Billy Murray and the American Quartet]
• {{MusicBrainz work|id=2feda550-1f4d-4083-829f-05c4c9a26e85|name=It's a Long Way to Tipperary}}

{{Billy Murray|state=autocollapse}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:It's A Long Way To Tipperary}}

Category:1912 songs

Category:British patriotic songs

Category:Songs from musicals

Category:Songs of World War I

Category:Songs about Ireland

Category:Songs about towns

Category:County Tipperary

Category:Irish songs

Category:Billy Murray (singer) songs

Category:Music hall songs

Category:1912 quotations

Category:Quotations from music

Category:1910s in Irish music