First Published | 1914 |
Writer/composer | Charles Knight and Kenneth Lyle | Roud | RN10778 |
Music Hall Performers | Mark Sheridan |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: WW1 Troops |
The poets since the war began have written lots of things About our gallant soldier lads which no one ever sings Although the words are very good, the lilt they seem to miss But Tommy likes a tricky song, a song that goes like this. Here we are, here we are, here we are again There's Pat and Mac, and Tommy and Jack and Joe When there's trouble brewing, when there's something doing Are we down hearted? NO, let them all come Here we are, here we are, here we are again Fit and well and feeling as right as rain Never mind the weather, now then, all together Hello, Hello, here we are again. When Tommy went across the sea to bear the battle's brunt Of course he sang this little song while marching to the front And when he's walking through Berlin, he'll sing the anthem still He'll shove a 'woodbine' on and say, 'How are you Uncle Bill?' And when the boys have finished up with Herman and with Max And when the enemy's got it where the chicken got the axe The girls will all be waiting midst the cheering and the din To hear their sweethearts singing, 'As the ship come sailing in
A marching song from 1914 when songwriters were churning out jolly recruitment songs to encourage men to sign up to fight in the war. This one was a big hit for Mark Sheridan, who introduced it into his act in October 1914. The song was widely sung by the troops themselves, though they often changed the words – this version appeared in Tommy’s Tunes, a collection of soldiers’ songs first published immediately after the war:
Here we are, Here we are, Here we are again,
Tommy’s Tunes (1917), p45
Here we are, Here we are, Here we are again,
We beat them on the Marne
And whacked them on the Aisne,
We smashed them up at Neuve Chapelle
And we’re ready here again.
Sheridan did record the song, but I have been unable to find a freely available version, so instead here it is as recorded by Frederick Wheeler in approximately 1915:
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A10778
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Sheet Music: Francis and Day’s 34th Annual p1
Last Updated on March 28, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: March 28, 2023