When Johnny Comes Marching Home

I was telling you about Die Hard with a Vengence yesterday. In this movie when the bad guy, Simon (not me, but Simon Gruber, a German vilain Jeremy Irons), is robbing the Federal Reserve building in New York, we can hear a tune called "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", which appears to be quite popular in America. But what is it. Read this:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again") is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.

Here's an old version in an antique movie, Stalag 17.



These are the lyrics I found on the Wikipedia page:

When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.
Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah, hurrah!
Their choicest pleasures then display,
Hurrah, hurrah!
And let each one perform some part,
To fill with joy the warrior's heart,
And we'll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home

And, of course, it appears in many other films, such as Antz. And in parodies, like this one I found on YouTube:



Awesome, isn't it? If Howard Shore hadn't been hired to write the soundtrack, this would had fitted perfecly. Even if a "real-world" tune would have looked strange…