Marching Through Georgia
"Marching Through Georgia" (sometimes spelled as "Marching Thru' Georgia" or "Marching Thro Georgia") is a
History
The song became widely popular with Union Army veterans after the American Civil War. The song, sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, tells of marching through Georgian territory, freeing slaves, meeting Southern Unionist men glad to once again see the U.S. flag, and punishing the Confederacy for their starting the war.
After the war, in parts of the southern United States, and particularly in Georgia, ex-Confederates and some white Southerners saw the song as a symbol of perceived excessive damage and political domination the United States army and government exercised over the former Confederacy and Southern states during the war. Coincidentally, Sherman himself came to dislike "Marching Through Georgia", in part because it was played at almost every public appearance that he attended. In fact, it was even played at his funeral.[1][2] Outside of the Southern United States, it had a widespread appeal: Japanese troops sang it as they entered Port Arthur,[3] the British Army sang it in India, and a British town welcomed southern U.S. troops in World War II with the tune.
Legacy
The song remains popular with
In the 1896 presidential election, the campaigns of both William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan featured political songs sung to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia".[4]
In the United Kingdom, the tune is used for the Georgist anthem, The Land, the de facto party song of the Liberal Democrats and of the former Liberal Party. Liberal Assemblies and Liberal Democrat Conferences were formerly closed with the song, and the song continues to be a favourite at the conference Glee Club. David Lloyd George used the tune for his campaign song George and Gladstone in his first election campaign in 1890.[5]
An anglicised version of the song was recorded between 1901 and 1903 during the Second Anglo
George M. Cohan referenced the "Hurrah! Hurrah!" line in one of the verses of "You're a Grand Old Flag", juxtaposed with a line from "Dixie".
In Japan, the song was played by the Salvation Army in the late 1880s.[7] In 1892, a set of new lyrics were written by Tomiya Tetsumaru to make the song more oriented to other Japanese marching songs, renaming it "Masuratake wo".[8] In 1919, Masuratake wo was parodied with lyrics by Soeda Azenbō and Shogetsu Watanabe as "Tokyo Bushi (Pai no Pai no Pai)", which subsequently became a perennially popular shin min'yō standard. The song was featured in the soundtrack to the film The Flower and the Angry Waves by Seijun Suzuki.
The Finnish protest song "
The song is referenced in the title of two alternate history novels. S. M. Stirling's Marching Through Georgia references the title, and Ward Moore's Bring the Jubilee references the chorus.
In 1924, guitar and harmonica player Charlie Oaks released "Marching Through Flanders" for the Vocalion label (Vocalion 15104). It bears an identical melody to "Marching Through Georgia", but details the exploits of American troops in Belgium during World War I.[citation needed]
In the early 1940s during the Japanese rule of Korea, the Korean Liberation Army used the melody of "Marching Through Georgia" for their "March of the KLA". [citation needed]
In the classic western movie
In 1961, Tennessee Ernie Ford sang this song on his album Tennessee Ernie Ford Sings Civil War Songs of the North.
The Stockton, California band Pavement emphatically reference Sherman's March to the Sea and song "Marching Through Georgia" in their song "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence" from their 1994 album reissue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins.[citation needed]
Lyrics
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Adaptations
"Come In"
One version of the chorus for Come In is as follows:
Come in, come in, I'll do the best I can
Come in, come in, bring the whole bloody clan
Take it slow and easy, and I'll shake you by the hand
Set you down, I'll treat you decent, I'm an Ulsterman
The Land
The first verse and chorus from "The Land" is as follows:
Sound the call for freedom boys, and sound it far and wide,
March along to victory, for God is on our side,
While the voice of nature thunders o'er the rising tide:
"God gave the land to the people."
The land, the land,'twas God who made the land,
The land, the land, The ground on which we stand,
Why should we be beggars with a ballot in our hand?
God gave the land to the people!
"Paint 'Er Red"
One verse from this adaptation, occasionally sung by members of the Industrial Workers of the World, is as follows:
Come with us, you workingmen, and join the rebel band;
Come, you discontented ones, and give a helping hand,
We march against the parasite to drive him from the land,
With one big industrial union!
Hurrah! hurrah! We're going to paint 'er red!
Hurrah! hurrah! the way is clear ahead—
We're gaining shop democracy and liberty and bread
With one big industrial union![11]
The song was interpolated into The United States of America's "The American Metaphysical Circus".
"Shout aloud Salvation"
The Salvation Army has a tradition of adapting songs with their own Christian words. These words written by George Scott Railton
Shout aloud salvation, and we’ll have another song;
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along;
Sing it as our comrades sang it many a thousand strong,
As they were marching to Glory.
Refrain:
March on, march on! we bring the jubilee;
Fight on, fight on! salvation makes us free;
We’ll shout our Saviour’s praises over every land and sea
As we go marching to Glory.
How the anxious shout it when they hear the joyful sound!
How the weakest conquer when the Saviour they have found!
How our grand battalions with triumphant power abound,
As we go marching to Glory.
So we’ll make a thoroughfare for Jesus and his train;
All the world shall hear us as fresh converts still we gain;
Sin shall fly before us for resistance is in vain,
As we go marching to Glory.[12][13]
See also
Notes
- ^ Sherman's armies in Georgia actually had closer to 62,000 men.[10]
- ^ A biblical allusion to the freeing of slaves. See Leviticus 25.
References
- ^ Erbsen 2008, p. 51.
- ^ Eicher 2001, p. 763.
- JSTOR 41396391.
- S2CID 144754044. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ISBN 0-8262-0203-9.
- ^ "flatinternational - south african audio archive - Ian Colquhoun - Marching on Pretoria". www.flatinternational.org.
- )
- ^ "高知市民図書館・近森文庫所蔵::日本軍歌". Archived from the original on August 30, 2017.
- ISBN 951-746-026-0.
- ^ Eicher 2001, p. 762.
- ISBN 978-1-62963-129-5.
- ISBN 978-0892160709.
- ^ "The Song Book of the Salvation Army 815. Shout aloud salvation, and we'll have another song | Hymnary.org". hymnary.org.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-684-84944-5.
- Erbsen, Wayne (2008). Rousing Songs and True Tales of the Civil War. Native Ground Books & Music, 2008. ISBN 978-1-883206-33-8.
Further reading
- Ross, Kelley L. (2004). "Marching Through Georgia". I am a Union Man. Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
External links
- "Marching Through Georgia", Harlan & Stanley (Edison Gold Moulded, 1904)—Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
- Marching Through Georgia sheet music
- Marching Through Georgia MIDI
- Marching Through Pretoria recording at Flatinternational.org flatinternational - south african audio archive - Ian Colquhoun - Marching on Pretoria