Beyond the Trenches CD - track information
It’s A Long, Long Way To Tipperary (Jack Judge and Harry Williams)
This is a British music hall song first published in 1912. The cover of the first edition describes it as ‘The song they sing as they march along’; later editions called it ‘The Marching Anthem on the Battlefields of Europe’. It was made famous by music hall star Florrie Forde and by the recording made in 1914 by Irish tenor John McCormack. Originally intended to be called It’s a long, long way to Connemara, the title was changed before publication.
Pack Up Your Troubles (Words: George Asaf, Music: Felix Powell)
The writers were brothers (George Asaf was really called George Powell). The song was originally published in 1915 as (Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and) Smile, Smile, Smile. This was another song popularised in the music hall by the Australian born Florrie Forde.
Your King And Country Want You (Paul A.Rubens)
This popular recruiting song was first published at the start of WW1 in 1914. Sales of the sheet music raised over £500,000 for Queen Mary's Work for Women Fund. Composer and lyricist Paul Rubens wrote music and lyrics for a number of popular musical comedies in the early 20th century.
Good-bye-ee (R.P.Weston and Bert Lee)
Yet another Florrie Forde number, Good-bye-ee, was a hit in 1917. Weston and Lee got the idea for the song when they saw a group of factory girls calling out goodbye to soldiers marching to Victoria station. They were saying the word in the exaggerated way which had been popularised as a catchphrase by comedian Harry Tate.
Keep The Home-Fires Burning (Ivor Novello, Lena Guilbert Ford)
Keep the Home-Fires Burning is a British patriotic First World War song first published in 1914 as Till the Boys Come Home. A new edition was printed in 1915 with the name Keep the Home-Fires Burning.
Travelling Days (Kesselman, Barnett)
A pastiche of the type of song that was sung in the trenches during WW1. The soldiers explain that they thought travel would be an adventure but the situation is not quite what they envisaged. Lyrics here
Roses Of Picardy (Haydn Wood and Frederick Weatherly)
First published in London in 1916, this became one of the most famous songs of the First World War. Although it was popularised by the recording made in 1919 by tenor John McCormack, it was originally written for soprano Elsie Griffin who later sang principal soprano roles with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.
The Honeysuckle And The Bee (Lyrics: Albert H.Fitz, Music: William M.Penn)
This famous music hall song dates from 1901 when it was featured as an additional song in the London musical play, Bluebell in Fairyland, a Christmas-season children’s entertainment about a flower girl called Bluebell who restores the King of Fairyland to his throne.
If The Sergeant Steals Your Rum (Music by Harry Dent and Tom Goldburn)
The anonymous lyric is a parody of a song from 1913 called Never Mind.
The lyrics of the original went as follows: Though your heart may ache a while, never mind, / Though your face may loose it's smile, never mind, / For there's sunshine after rain, and then gladness follows pain, / You'll be happy once again, never mind. The melody by Dent and Goldburn bears a striking resemblance to While strolling through the park one day, written and composed in 1884 by Ed Haley.
I Want To Go Home (Words and Music by Lieut.Gitz Rice, 1st Canadian Contingent)
Lieutenant Gitz Rice (1891-1947) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and pianist. Born in Nova Scotia, he wrote a number of patriotic songs. He is said to have played a part in the singing of Christmas carols with the enemy troops one Christmas Eve in the First World War and is thought to have been the soldier who played the piano as they sang Silent Night, the piano having been carried into the trenches.
Sister Susie’s Sewing Shirts For Soldiers (Words: R.P.Weston, Music: Herman Darewski)
This song was first published in 1914. Weston was born in Islington. His other songs included Good-bye-ee and I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am. Darewski was born in Minsk, (then in Russia,) and brought up in London where he became known as a conductor of light music.
Peaceful Country (Kesselman, Barnett)
A pastiche of the type of song that would not have been out of place at the Women’s Institute in the early 20th century. A complete contrast to what the soldiers were singing in the trenches during WW1. Lyrics here
Sing Me To Sleep (Words: Clifton Bingham, Music: Edwin Greene, Additional words: Anonymous, arr. Kesselman)
This song was originally written in 1902. It acquired new words during WW1, Far far from Wipers. Here the two versions have been arranged into a single entity.
The Lads In Their Hundreds and Is My Team Ploughing? (Words: A.E.Housman, Music: George Butterworth)
The words for these two songs are from A. E. Housman’s collection ‘A Shropshire Lad’. The highly talented English composer George Butterworth was killed during the Battle of the Somme in August 1916, aged 31.
Row Row Row (Words: William Jerome, Music: James V.Monaco)
Composed for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912, this song was an instant success.
Travelling Days/Peaceful Country (Kesselman, Barnett)
Soldiers in the trenches and their loved ones at home joined together in song.
what remains? (Kesselman, Barnett)
The words of this song were inspired by the story of Paul Barnett, a soldier in the Labour Corps during WW1. Lyrics here
Look For The Silver Lining (Music: Jerome Kern, Words: B.G.de Sylva)
This popular song dates from 1919 when it appeared in the unsuccessful musical Zip, Goes a Million. In 1920 it was published and reused in the musical Sally.
This is a British music hall song first published in 1912. The cover of the first edition describes it as ‘The song they sing as they march along’; later editions called it ‘The Marching Anthem on the Battlefields of Europe’. It was made famous by music hall star Florrie Forde and by the recording made in 1914 by Irish tenor John McCormack. Originally intended to be called It’s a long, long way to Connemara, the title was changed before publication.
Pack Up Your Troubles (Words: George Asaf, Music: Felix Powell)
The writers were brothers (George Asaf was really called George Powell). The song was originally published in 1915 as (Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and) Smile, Smile, Smile. This was another song popularised in the music hall by the Australian born Florrie Forde.
Your King And Country Want You (Paul A.Rubens)
This popular recruiting song was first published at the start of WW1 in 1914. Sales of the sheet music raised over £500,000 for Queen Mary's Work for Women Fund. Composer and lyricist Paul Rubens wrote music and lyrics for a number of popular musical comedies in the early 20th century.
Good-bye-ee (R.P.Weston and Bert Lee)
Yet another Florrie Forde number, Good-bye-ee, was a hit in 1917. Weston and Lee got the idea for the song when they saw a group of factory girls calling out goodbye to soldiers marching to Victoria station. They were saying the word in the exaggerated way which had been popularised as a catchphrase by comedian Harry Tate.
Keep The Home-Fires Burning (Ivor Novello, Lena Guilbert Ford)
Keep the Home-Fires Burning is a British patriotic First World War song first published in 1914 as Till the Boys Come Home. A new edition was printed in 1915 with the name Keep the Home-Fires Burning.
Travelling Days (Kesselman, Barnett)
A pastiche of the type of song that was sung in the trenches during WW1. The soldiers explain that they thought travel would be an adventure but the situation is not quite what they envisaged. Lyrics here
Roses Of Picardy (Haydn Wood and Frederick Weatherly)
First published in London in 1916, this became one of the most famous songs of the First World War. Although it was popularised by the recording made in 1919 by tenor John McCormack, it was originally written for soprano Elsie Griffin who later sang principal soprano roles with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.
The Honeysuckle And The Bee (Lyrics: Albert H.Fitz, Music: William M.Penn)
This famous music hall song dates from 1901 when it was featured as an additional song in the London musical play, Bluebell in Fairyland, a Christmas-season children’s entertainment about a flower girl called Bluebell who restores the King of Fairyland to his throne.
If The Sergeant Steals Your Rum (Music by Harry Dent and Tom Goldburn)
The anonymous lyric is a parody of a song from 1913 called Never Mind.
The lyrics of the original went as follows: Though your heart may ache a while, never mind, / Though your face may loose it's smile, never mind, / For there's sunshine after rain, and then gladness follows pain, / You'll be happy once again, never mind. The melody by Dent and Goldburn bears a striking resemblance to While strolling through the park one day, written and composed in 1884 by Ed Haley.
I Want To Go Home (Words and Music by Lieut.Gitz Rice, 1st Canadian Contingent)
Lieutenant Gitz Rice (1891-1947) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and pianist. Born in Nova Scotia, he wrote a number of patriotic songs. He is said to have played a part in the singing of Christmas carols with the enemy troops one Christmas Eve in the First World War and is thought to have been the soldier who played the piano as they sang Silent Night, the piano having been carried into the trenches.
Sister Susie’s Sewing Shirts For Soldiers (Words: R.P.Weston, Music: Herman Darewski)
This song was first published in 1914. Weston was born in Islington. His other songs included Good-bye-ee and I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am. Darewski was born in Minsk, (then in Russia,) and brought up in London where he became known as a conductor of light music.
Peaceful Country (Kesselman, Barnett)
A pastiche of the type of song that would not have been out of place at the Women’s Institute in the early 20th century. A complete contrast to what the soldiers were singing in the trenches during WW1. Lyrics here
Sing Me To Sleep (Words: Clifton Bingham, Music: Edwin Greene, Additional words: Anonymous, arr. Kesselman)
This song was originally written in 1902. It acquired new words during WW1, Far far from Wipers. Here the two versions have been arranged into a single entity.
The Lads In Their Hundreds and Is My Team Ploughing? (Words: A.E.Housman, Music: George Butterworth)
The words for these two songs are from A. E. Housman’s collection ‘A Shropshire Lad’. The highly talented English composer George Butterworth was killed during the Battle of the Somme in August 1916, aged 31.
Row Row Row (Words: William Jerome, Music: James V.Monaco)
Composed for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1912, this song was an instant success.
Travelling Days/Peaceful Country (Kesselman, Barnett)
Soldiers in the trenches and their loved ones at home joined together in song.
what remains? (Kesselman, Barnett)
The words of this song were inspired by the story of Paul Barnett, a soldier in the Labour Corps during WW1. Lyrics here
Look For The Silver Lining (Music: Jerome Kern, Words: B.G.de Sylva)
This popular song dates from 1919 when it appeared in the unsuccessful musical Zip, Goes a Million. In 1920 it was published and reused in the musical Sally.