{"id":12852,"date":"2021-09-12T15:43:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T15:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=12852"},"modified":"2025-12-09T10:26:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T10:26:29","slug":"comrades","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/comrades\/","title":{"rendered":"Comrades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
First Published<\/td>1887<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Felix McGlennon<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN1494<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Tom Costello<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Turple, Jack; Canada : Nova Scotia : 1952
Hart, Bob; England : Suffolk : Snape 1969
Ramsden, David V.W.; England : Yorkshire : 1972
Brennan, Caroline (Mrs.), Canada : Newfoundland : 1978 <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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We from childhood played together\nMy dear comrade Jack and I\nWe would fight each other's battles\nTo each other's aid we'd fly\nAnd in boyish scrapes and troubles\nYou would find us everywhere\nWhere one went the other followed\nNaught would part us for we were\n\nComrades, comrades, ever since we were boys\nSharing each other's sorrows\nSharing each other's joys\nComrades when manhood was dawning\nFaithful what e'er may betide\nWhen danger threatened,\nMy darling old comrade was there by my side<\/em>\n\nWhen just budding into manhood\nI yearned for a soldier's life\nNight and day I dreamed of glory\nLonging for the battle's strife\nI said \u201cJack I'll be a soldier\n\u2018Neath the red, the white, and blue\nGood bye Jack\u201d said he \u201cNo never\nIf you go, then, I'll go too\u201d We were\n\nI enlisted, Jack came with me\nAnd ups and downs we shared\nFor a time our lives were peaceful\nBut at length, war was declared\nEngland's flag had been insulted\nWe were ordered to the front\nAnd the regiment we belonged to\nHad to bear the battle's brunt. We were\n\n\nIn the night the foe came over\nAnd we went for them like hell\nIt was rifle butt and bayonet\nAnd we drove them back pell-mell\nThere was one chap got me cornered\nI was helpless, wounded sore\nIt was jack that sprang between us\nAnd my pal was mine no more. We were\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The second half of the 19th century saw Britain fighting a series of brutal wars to defend its empire. The army was professional rather than conscripted and enlistment was often a way of escaping poverty at home. Many working and lower-middle-class families would be familiar with the experience of a loved one fighting and dying far away, and this in part explains the popularity of this type of sentimental song,  both in the Halls and respectable middle-class parlours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tom Costello heard Comrades<\/em> whilst visiting the US and first sang it on the British stage in 1890. He continued to sing it on stage right up until the 1930s when he toured with his show Veteran Stars of Variety<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Comrades<\/em> was written by Felix McGlennon<\/a>, it was widely published in both official and unofficial publications on both sides of the Atlantic. It was collected from traditional singers in the second half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recording or download of this song can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Costello sings it:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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