@@not2hot99 There is a clean live audio recording in existence. I have it on an compilation CD titled "Wrap the Green Flag- Favorites of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem."
Agreed. That verse is the best and the smirk is the cherry on top. Where are the legs with which you run? When first you learned to carry a gun. Those words put me right back on Fort Benning. Georgia soil when I was 19. Running is everything to a soldier
An alternate ending verse. They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo They're rolling out the guns again But they never will take our sons again, No they never will take our sons again Johnny I'm swearing to ye.
I do love that verse, but personally I think the song should always end with the verse that, in stead of 'darl'n dear ya look so queer', it says 'darl'n dear your welcome here'
But they almost certainly will. War should always be avoided when possible, but there have been wars in the world that needed to be fought. An example, one referred to here by the narrator, the American Civil War. The South were fighting to preserve the right to withhold rights. And even after the North won, it took another hundred years for something at least resembling proper acceptance of racial equality and even today, that legacy and the damage it has caused remain, still causing damage. Another clear example, the Second World War. Germany had to be opposed. Had to be stopped. In the words of Kenny Rogers, 'Sometimes you have to fight, to be a man.'
Too bad the audio isn't clearer, but Tommy's facial expressions are priceless! I've read all the comments, and I'm glad some people got it right about it being an anti-war song (as Tommy even says on one of their recordings). Awesome song by an awesome singer and a lovely gentleman as well. May he rest in peace.
It is an angry song. Angry at the horrible disfigurement Johnny suffered while fighting far away from home, in a needless war in Asia. I'm an American, and good god my country could learn something from this song...we have so many young men and women coming home from needless wars in Western Asia missing arms, legs, eyes..just like in the song.
Maybe this cover by the Clancy Brothers intended that message, but the original version of this song was meant as a comedic song, parodying the hagiography of soldiers in When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. It portrays the soldier as a philanderer who has an illegitimate child and mocks the idea of him “Marching” home when he is left limbless. Tommy Makem and co omitted the verse beginning “where are the eyes that looked so mild”, most likely because of the line “why did you run from me and the child?” which gave away the real message of the original song, that it was not about sympathising with soldiers but mocking the way they are idolised.
The story takes place at the last days of the Kingdom of Kandy. The 83rd County of Dublin Regiment came to Ceylon from Cape of Good Hope. This time, the Irish soldiers suffered with mainly diseases killing them instead of the Kandyan Revolters. About 500+ Irish Soldiers died. The Third Kandyan War (The Great Rebellion of Ceylon of 1818) was British Victory due to the diseases mainly killing most Kandyans.
It is not pre civil war snd it ,like many "Irish" songs describes the British Army and the fact that was made of upto 30%Irish.Why else are the talking about Ceylon,Flanders and Spain(version depending)
This song is for every family out there that had a young man never come home either from war or to the war of drugs sorry but I think of my brother that hung himself and makes me think if I ever knew him
Yes, that's what is started out as. But music, song and the arts are there for everyone to enjoy and to be passed on through the centuries, changed and loved, by all sides.
This song is tied with 3 others for 1st place in the world's greatest anti-war song competition. The others are (1) And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, (2) Flanders Field, and (3) When Margaret Was Eleven. 2nd place winner - Peter, Paul & Mary's Siul a Run (or the title might be Johnny's Gone for a Soldier).
Wow they make you feel this song ! 4 handsome guys singing like that , wooow I wish one day I meet a guy like any of this guys they look so proud and manly , really attractive
This song has nothing to do with any "struggle for freedom": it's about going off with the British army on imperialist conquest and coming back maimed.
Wow! This is by far the best version of this song! Although I wish I could a high quality version of this song Edit: I take that back I heard the higher quality version and this is better
I heard this story at the Marine Corps base of Camp Lejune in the early '60s: In the Korean War, a marine machine gunner was separated from the rest of his unit and was about to be captured. The he played 3 bars of "When Johnny comes marching home again", and his fellow marines came to his rescue.
The story I always heard was that an Irishman in the States seeing how distraught his sister was about her husband going off to the Civil War took this older original sad song and then re made it with uplifting happy verses to it. The song as it was originally sung like these lads do it, was more about the horrors of war. Didn't the Leprechauns disappear because they went off to war?
You're right that the lyrics tells about this Johhny who has sacrifised everything in war. However, it should be said that this Johnny could be a symbol of Ireland. That thought for England at Sri Lanka; in a war they had nothing to do with. It is actually not certain that Johnny I hardly knew ya came before When Johnny comes marching home...I'm no expert, I just enjoy the music.
The one true thing about the Irish is this: They don't like to fight, much like anyone else, but if push comes to shove, they'll raise up and fight for what they must, whether it be in Ireland, in Ceylon, in Mexico, or in the US.
What's so sad is that they used to teach the chorus only in grade schools, as if it were a pro war, "patriotic" song. This was done during the Vietnam War era. Shame.
since tommy makem originally recorded it the year vietnam started, id say he was playing it before the war. the song itself predates the war by at least 100 years. it was originally written in london in 1867, but is expected to be much older and from ireland. you may wanna read before you write
i know that it definitely predates 1867. my family has passed down my 3rd great grandfather's journal dating to the civil war and it spoke about this song, just a version called when jonny comes marching home. but pretty much the same song just a few changes
Yes, you are right! Plus, it actually states on Wikipedia that the song was "first published in London in 1867 and written by Joseph B. Geoghegan" but actually is a traditional song. Probably "written" in a sense that he recorded a folk song that was well known in oral tradition. One of my favourite songs.
The low quality audio actually makes it better. Amazing song
It sounds like he has bubbles in his throat
@@johnwhynot5508 It's the "magnetic tape dying on" you sound :D
@@theblackbaron4119 I wonder if there is a higher quality one?
@@not2hot99 There is a clean live audio recording in existence. I have it on an compilation CD titled "Wrap the Green Flag- Favorites of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem."
Reminds me of the Rob Tyner Grande Days video, which is worth a watch for the same reasons.
This is not a song about the Irish fighting the British, it is a song about an Irishman back at home after fighting abroad in the British Army.
Irishman who fight With Kandyan Kingdom in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) during British rule era.
@@ediri94 Were there Irishmen in Ceylon fighting against British rule, or are you speculating? (Yes, I'm skeptical, but I'm willing to learn.)
Let Englishmen fight English wars,
It's nearly time they started oh!
Exactly its an antiwar song
@@nozecone
No.
His smirk is just amazing. “ I think your dancing days are done”
I think it is "Indeed your dancing days are done."
Agreed. That verse is the best and the smirk is the cherry on top. Where are the legs with which you run? When first you learned to carry a gun. Those words put me right back on Fort Benning. Georgia soil when I was 19. Running is everything to a soldier
Tommy Makem is brilliant. RIP to all these boys. Legendary.
An alternate ending verse.
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo They're rolling out the guns again But they never will take our sons again, No they never will take our sons again Johnny I'm swearing to ye.
Thank you for this. Powerful verse.
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. wonderful.
I do love that verse, but personally I think the song should always end with the verse that, in stead of 'darl'n dear ya look so queer', it says 'darl'n dear your welcome here'
But they almost certainly will. War should always be avoided when possible, but there have been wars in the world that needed to be fought. An example, one referred to here by the narrator, the American Civil War. The South were fighting to preserve the right to withhold rights. And even after the North won, it took another hundred years for something at least resembling proper acceptance of racial equality and even today, that legacy and the damage it has caused remain, still causing damage.
Another clear example, the Second World War. Germany had to be opposed. Had to be stopped. In the words of Kenny Rogers, 'Sometimes you have to fight, to be a man.'
The awesome accent of Tommy Makem makes me wanna sing like my grandfather!
Respect from Bretagne, France.
Too bad the audio isn't clearer, but Tommy's facial expressions are priceless! I've read all the comments, and I'm glad some people got it right about it being an anti-war song (as Tommy even says on one of their recordings). Awesome song by an awesome singer and a lovely gentleman as well. May he rest in peace.
The smile on his face!😂 "You'll have to be put with a bowl to beg" that's some twisted sense of humor, but, somehow I appreciate that.
It is an angry song. Angry at the horrible disfigurement Johnny suffered while fighting far away from home, in a needless war in Asia. I'm an American, and good god my country could learn something from this song...we have so many young men and women coming home from needless wars in Western Asia missing arms, legs, eyes..just like in the song.
Cassuttus yeah it’s about Johnny coming back to his lover badly disfigured after the battle of Sri Lanka
Maybe this cover by the Clancy Brothers intended that message, but the original version of this song was meant as a comedic song, parodying the hagiography of soldiers in When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. It portrays the soldier as a philanderer who has an illegitimate child and mocks the idea of him “Marching” home when he is left limbless. Tommy Makem and co omitted the verse beginning “where are the eyes that looked so mild”, most likely because of the line “why did you run from me and the child?” which gave away the real message of the original song, that it was not about sympathising with soldiers but mocking the way they are idolised.
The story takes place at the last days of the Kingdom of Kandy. The 83rd County of Dublin Regiment came to Ceylon from Cape of Good Hope. This time, the Irish soldiers suffered with mainly diseases killing them instead of the Kandyan Revolters. About 500+ Irish Soldiers died. The Third Kandyan War (The Great Rebellion of Ceylon of 1818) was British Victory due to the diseases mainly killing most Kandyans.
This is the best thing on the internet. The intro, the beat, Makem's cheeky smile...
I will forever be In Love of this type of man
So, this is where the melody for "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" comes from!
RIP to all these guys! Tommy makes this epic.
Still brings tears after all these years....
ive never heard this version before. i usually listen to dropkick murphys version...but this is AMAZING!!
As much as I love the Dropkick Murphys, it bugs me every time I hear them skip that line, "A darling dear, you look so queer".
The most dramatic & theatrical I’ve ever seen Tommy Makim…….beautiful.☘️🎶🎭
Cant help notice Tommy gradually clenches his fists
Look at Makem hands when he sings this song.
3:07 to 3:35 gives me major goosebumps ... so powerful ...
Good song I live in athy co Kildare Ireland
These guys can't be beat, sorry.
Eli Selling dropkick murphys made the song much better ^^
I agree, its actually pre civil war, the one from the civil war has some different words
It is not pre civil war snd it ,like many "Irish" songs describes the British Army and the fact that was made of upto 30%Irish.Why else are the talking about Ceylon,Flanders and Spain(version depending)
Don’t be sorry it’s true
Heartbreaking song.
This song is for every family out there that had a young man never come home either from war or to the war of drugs sorry but I think of my brother that hung himself and makes me think if I ever knew him
Tommy Makem was so boss.
Yes, that's what is started out as. But music, song and the arts are there for everyone to enjoy and to be passed on through the centuries, changed and loved, by all sides.
That's the great Robert Preston introducing Tommy Makem & The Clancy Brothers!
1:10 the song starts and ends at 4:00
Really noble men! Awesome timeless song
We need to remember that even wars of independence have those who give all.
Good lord this gives me major goose-bumps!
Irish music sintonice with my soul in a way that i truly became a part of it. Thats more thqn perfect. That is pure.
"Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha" - A Song Inspired From This Master Piece and I Love Them Both!!
This song is tied with 3 others for 1st place in the world's greatest anti-war song competition. The others are (1) And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, (2) Flanders Field, and (3) When Margaret Was Eleven. 2nd place winner - Peter, Paul & Mary's Siul a Run (or the title might be Johnny's Gone for a Soldier).
Wow they make you feel this song ! 4 handsome guys singing like that , wooow I wish one day I meet a guy like any of this guys they look so proud and manly , really attractive
Beautiful
Woooow... ORiginal music videos... Powerful stuff
shivers down the spine!!
So powerful
What a time ... like something out of the mist and only a generation or two ago
Thank you!
When Johnny comes marching home again is the Americanised version of Johnny I hardly knew ye.
Loved it!
my brother jim used to sing this - miss him
Many people sang this tune, inclunding myself. Never heard better than THEM !
amazing
i like dropkick very .. butt This is so real i velt it inside and im from Amsterdam
the amsterdamians dont feel. they veel. xD also butt. i usualy dont correct stuff but you realy made my day sir. xD
It's a great song.
Superb, I missed this video. Thank you so much for the re-up.
This is the very best version i have ever heard,great!!!i believe in the irisch struggle for freedom
This song has nothing to do with any "struggle for freedom": it's about going off with the British army on imperialist conquest and coming back maimed.
I like that song.
no se como es que amo esta rola
the hardest out to this day. absolute riffs
Bravo!!
Война никогда не меняется.
21 век, а мы все переживаем это вновь и вновь...
Всем мирного неба, друзья!
Powerful😀
He had a wonderful smile.
excellent a écouter !
Genious! :)
It may have been Irish to begin with but it belongs to all who will fight for freedom.
Wow! This is by far the best version of this song! Although I wish I could a high quality version of this song
Edit: I take that back I heard the higher quality version and this is better
Tommy's voice. Jesus.🌹
Only the BEST!
They look so heroic, like knights.
irish to the core....brutally honest !! Thanks....'61born living presently in a Lower Himalayan Valley in North India.
I heard this story at the Marine Corps base of Camp Lejune in the early '60s: In the Korean War, a marine machine gunner was separated from the rest of his unit and was about to be captured. The he played 3 bars of "When Johnny comes marching home again", and his fellow marines came to his rescue.
Indeed your dancing days are done...
🙏my man who just passed was from County Letrum
great song in the military !!!!!
what a great version w/out the Kinescope this would have been lost 4ever
I love this song who wouldn't
Cody Wallace Satan wouldn't
This song inspired Stan Jones to composse "Riders in the Sky" in July 1948
Yeah !!!
epic !
Fun fact! Ceylon = modern Sri Lanka
Yes, it is.
Classic
Holy crap... 50 years next year? :O
"1963, Dinner with the President JFK"
Damn ! oO
I wish I could give a comment multiple upvotes.
Agreed & I just realized that Tommy Makem is the thin guy that plays the flute. I am embarrassed, thought he was the big guy at the front...
My God Just Found This
tommy makem a true Co Armagh soul
The story I always heard was that an Irishman in the States seeing how distraught his sister was about her husband going off to the Civil War took this older original sad song and then re made it with uplifting happy verses to it. The song as it was originally sung like these lads do it, was more about the horrors of war. Didn't the Leprechauns disappear because they went off to war?
You're right that the lyrics tells about this Johhny who has sacrifised everything in war.
However, it should be said that this Johnny could be a symbol of Ireland. That thought for England at Sri Lanka; in a war they had nothing to do with.
It is actually not certain that Johnny I hardly knew ya came before When Johnny comes marching home...I'm no expert, I just enjoy the music.
I've had a ton of trouble attempting to find "blow ye winds" as sung by the clancy bros/tommy makem, anyone have a consistent link?
This is good it’s the audio that’s creepy
Can anyone please upload the lyrics please? Like as subtitles or in the description?? Please..
Looking back I wonder if this was a warning or message about Vietnam
The one true thing about the Irish is this: They don't like to fight, much like anyone else, but if push comes to shove, they'll raise up and fight for what they must, whether it be in Ireland, in Ceylon, in Mexico, or in the US.
Irelands first folk metal band.
They would be old men in modern times
Jesus, this clip is as old as my dad lol
2019 anyone?
I am.
2020
Comments are a bit unfair and uninformed. Tommy Makem (lead) was a fine singer and apolitical. The song is a commentary not a sermon.
De que año es el vídeo original ?
The British weren't sending troops to Sri Lanka to fight for freedom.
Mike A it were the Irish fighting for the wrong country but they wanted freedom from the brits
muito bom a musica e otima
fantastico (em q ano foi isso)
1970 ou 1980 por aí!
They knew well
That smile he makes at about 2:10 is so classic. The Clancy Brothers were the original panty melters.
Hahaha thanks, man.
What's so sad is that they used to teach the chorus only in grade schools, as if it were a pro war, "patriotic" song. This was done during the Vietnam War era. Shame.
Really? Wow... Then it's a shining example of taking something out of context in the most cynical way possible.
since tommy makem originally recorded it the year vietnam started, id say he was playing it before the war. the song itself predates the war by at least 100 years. it was originally written in london in 1867, but is expected to be much older and from ireland. you may wanna read before you write
kurt h Dude, I know when it was written :) I meant that it was cynical to "teach only the chorus in grade schools as if it were a pro-war song".
i know that it definitely predates 1867. my family has passed down my 3rd great grandfather's journal dating to the civil war and it spoke about this song, just a version called when jonny comes marching home. but pretty much the same song just a few changes
Yes, you are right! Plus, it actually states on Wikipedia that the song was "first published in London in 1867 and written by Joseph B. Geoghegan" but actually is a traditional song. Probably "written" in a sense that he recorded a folk song that was well known in oral tradition. One of my favourite songs.