Battle Hymn of the Republic: Difference between revisions

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a patriotic anthem, written by Julia Ward Howe in December 1861, that was made popular during the American Civil War.

History

The tune was written, around 1855, by South Carolinian William Steffe. The lyrics at that time were alternately called "Canaan's Happy Shore" or "Brothers, Will You Meet Me?" and the song was sung as a campfire spiritual. The tune spread across the United States, taking on many sets of new lyrics.

A man from Vermont named Thomas Bishop joined the Massachusetts Infantry before the outbreak of war and wrote a popular set of lyrics, circa 1860, titled "John Brown's Body" which became one of his unit's walking songs. According to writer Irwin Silber (who has written a book about Civil War folksongs), the song was not about John Brown, the famed abolitionist, but a Scotsman of the same name who was a member of the 12th Massachusetts Regiment. An article by writer Mark Steyn explains that the men of John Brown's unit had made up a song poking fun at him, and sang it widely.

Bishop's battalion was dispatched to Washington, D.C. early in the Civil War, and Julia Ward Howe heard this song during a public review of the troops in Washington. As with many others, she assumed it was about John Brown the abolitionist. Her companion at the review, the Reverend James Clarke, suggested to Howe that she write new words for the fighting men's song, and the current version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was born [1].

Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was first published on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly of February 1862. The sixth verse written by Howe, which is less commonly sung, was not published at that time.

Score

One version of the melody, in C major, begins as below. This is an example of the mediant-octave modal frame.

Lyrics

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

Chorus

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,

Since God is marching on."

Chorus

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

Chorus

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

Chorus

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

Chorus

Notes

The clause "let us die to make men free" is the most explicit reference to the Union soldiers and the fight to end slavery. In later years, when this song was sung in a non-military environment, this line was sometimes changed to "let us live to make men free".

The sixth verse is often omitted. Also, a common variant changes "soul of Time" to "soul of wrong", and "succour" to "honor".

Influence

In politics and society

• The Battle Hymn of the Republic has long been seen as the unofficial anthem of the Republican Party^{[citation needed]}, much as Happy Days Are Here Again holds that unofficial role for the Democratic Party.^{[citation needed]} It is usually played at the conclusion of the national convention.
• The melody of the song is the basis for the popular union song "Solidarity Forever", written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915.

In popular culture

• The lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic appear in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sermons and speeches, most notably in his speech "How Long, Not Long" from the steps of the Montgomery, Alabama Courthouse on March 25th, 1965 after the 3rd Selma March, and in his final sermon delivered in Memphis, Tennessee on the evening of April 3rd, 1968, the night before his assassination. In fact, the latter sermon, King's last public words, ends with the first lyrics of the Battle Hymn, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord."
• In 1960 the Mormon Tabernacle Choir won the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus with a recording that replaced the line "let us die to make men free" with the more cheery "let us live to make men free", a variation that has since caught on to some extent.
• The first verse and chorus of the Battle Hymn of the Republic is sung in the background at the end of the Dream Theater song "In the Name of God" on their album Train of Thought. This rendition is possibly intended to be ironic, as it is sung in an uncharacteristic minor key.

In television

• The song plays as the soundtrack in The West Wing episode 20 Hours in America, Part I. In the episode, President Bartlet has just finished addressing a group of sailors and Marines and is seen walking under an American flag with the song playing in the background.
• An episode of Andromeda is called To Loose The Faithful Lightning.
• An episode of The 4400 is called Terrible Swift Sword.

In film

• The tune of the song has been used in 43 films to date, the first being Mother Machree in 1928 and the most recent The Manchurian Candidate in 2004.
• In the movie The Right Stuff, John Glenn (played by Ed Harris) hums this tune during the tense reentry of his space capsule after learning of a technical malfunction.
• In the 1989 film UHF, after Stanley Spadowski gives the inspirational speech, "Life is like a mop...." while the this song plays in the background.

In games

• A Civil War wargame released in 1975 was named Terrible Swift Sword.
• The song was used as the ending theme song to the original Black Ops game in Something Awful's Traditional Games forum.
• In Friendlyware the song can be heard when you win on Sea Battle.

In books

• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, and In the Beauty of the Lilies, by John Updike, are two novels that take their titles from the hymn.
• William R. Forstchen's The Lost Regiment science fiction book series features four books whose titles are taken from lyrics from the song (Terrible Swift Sword, Fateful Lightning, Battle Hymn and Never Sound Retreat).
• Jerry Pournelle's 1975 short story His Truth Goes Marching on begins with the main character humming the song.
• Colonel Dean E. Hess, U.S. Air Force, an ordained minister who left the clergy to fly over 300 combat missions as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War, titled his 1957 autobiography Battle Hymn. It was in turn adapted into a film of the same title.

In memorials

• The Battle Hymn was played at the funerals of Robert F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, and U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald R. Ford. It was also played at a Westminster Abbey memorial service for President John F. Kennedy and at a more recent memorial service for expatriate British television personality Alastair Cooke.
• Judy Garland sang the song on her weekly television show in 1963 as a tribute to John F. Kennedy, who had died that week.
• The Battle Hymn was played at the conclusion of the National Service of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday, September 14, 2001.

In sports

• The tune was used for the Northern Irish football anthem, "We're Not Brazil, We're Northern Ireland"
• "Glory Glory Colorado," one of the fight songs of the University of Colorado, takes its tune from the Battle Hymn.
• Just before each University of Georgia football game begins, a lone trumpeter stands in the Southwest corner of Sanford Stadium and plays the first phrase, with the entire Redcoat Band joining after the first phrase. The UGA band also plays the entire song after home victories. The same is practiced at the beginning of basketball games, with the trumpeter at center court and the pep band joining in the song.
• The tune is used in football chants in England, originally sung by supporters of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., but since spreading to other teams, with versions such as "Glory Glory Man United".
• In the National Hockey League, the tune is used as a song against the Montreal Canadiens called "The Hab Song" which insults the team and its fans.
• At the end of each Ole Miss sporting event, the band plays a song entitled "From Dixie With Love", which combines the southern tune "Dixie" with the Battle Hymn. Rabid Ole Miss fans end the song with the phrase "the south will rise again", rather than "his truth is marching on".
• The Battle Hymm is played by the University of Minnesota Marching Band during the pregame show of Minnesota Golden Gopher football games in tandem with its trademark "swinging gates" formation. It is also played by the pep band at the end of a Men's Hockey series sweep [2].
• A fan favorite and popular song played by the Auburn University Marching Band at sporting events is a variant of the song entitled "Glory Glory to Ole Auburn".
• The tune is used for the SANFL Football Club Song of Woodville-West Torrens Football Club.
• In 1994, on the occasion of the 1994 FIFA World Cup held in the United States, Daryl Hall – with the choral group The Sound of Blackness using the tone of the anthem – sang the official song of the event, "Gloryland".

In theme parks

• In Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot, after its IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show, this song is heard as the pyrotechnics were released behind The American Adventure pavilion.

In other songs

• Alexander Glazunov's Triumphal March, op. 40 (1892), composed for the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, uses the tune throughout [3].
• The melody of the song (without the chorus) is used in the nursery rhyme Little Peter Rabbit
• The chorus of the hymn is featured in the song "An American Trilogy," made famous by Elvis Presley.
• The first line of the hymn is also adopted in "These Things Take Time" by The Smiths: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the sacred wunderkind / you took me behind a dis-used railway line".
• The first verse and chorus of the hymn can be heard in the background at the end of "In the Name of God," a song from Dream Theater's seventh album, Train of Thought.
• The Christian Metal band Stryper recorded a heavy metal version of the hymn for their 1985 debut album Soldiers Under Command. Since then, has been used as the intro to all their concerts.
• The Japanese electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera uses the melody of the song in their in-store advertising jingle. The lyrics are in Japanese and are about buying cameras and electronics.
• In Turkey, the Hymn is sung as a Scout camp song with Turkish lyrics by both Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.
• British cult band Half Man Half Biscuit (a favorite of John Peel) recorded a track called "Vatican Broadside", which was sung to the melody of the song but with lyrics including the lines "The singer out of Slipknot went to Rome to see the Pope" "..and the Pope said to his aide:" and the chorus: "who the fucking hell are Slipknot?" "..in relation to me getting out of bed."
• "Blood on the Risers", a World War II paratrooper song, had its melody taken from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".
• Peter Wilhousky wrote a concert arrangement used by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and other ensembles of voice and instruments [4].
• Many members of the Boy Scouts of America are familiar with the tune as the campfire song, "Pink Pajamas"
• Basis of the drinking song Godiva's Hymn used by many engineering faculties
• In Dream Theater's song "In The Name of God", the first verse and chorus are sung by the vocalists in an ambient tone and a minor key.
• A version of the hymn (the first verse and chorus only) with upbeat blues music called "Glory, Glory" was performed by Blues Traveler in their early years.
• Paratroopers during World War II made up another variation, "Blood on the Risers".
• Australian Rugby League team the South Sydney Rabbitohs team song is "Glory Glory To South Sydney", sung to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic
• American rock band Clutch (band) quotes part of the chorus in their song "Pile Driver"

Parodies

• "The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Updated" (1901) was Mark Twain's mocking parody of the lyrics, from the "point of view" of an American industrialist inspired by then-recent events of the Spanish and Philippine Wars.
• Schoolchildren all over the United States have sung an irreverent variation of the song beginning "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school...".
• Another wanton parody is a racist rendition recorded by Johnny Rebel and featured in the movie American History X, sung by Ethan Suplee.
• Yet another parody, "Hang Jeff Davis to a Sour Apple Tree/Down went McKinsey to the bottom of the sea", has now become one of the official songs of the University of Pennsylvania.
• In the 1960s absurdist classic The Principia Discordia, the tune is renamed The Battle Hymn of the Eristocracy, with new lyrics that include the line "Grand and Gory Ol' Discordja" as part of the chorus.
• The radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" featured a version of the tune with the lyrics "One black bug bled blue-black blood while another black bug bled blue" and "One sliced snake slid up the slide while another sliced snake slid down", and the chorus "Glory, glory, how peculiar".
• The JibJab.com animation "What We Call the News" was set to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
• In Great Britain, scouts often sing the parody, "He jumped from thirty thousand feet without a parachute," when on camps.

See also

• William Weston Patton

Further reading

• Jackson, Popular Songs of Nineteenth-Century America, note on "Battle Hymn of the Republic", p. 263-4.
• Scholes, Percy A. (1955). "John Brown's Body", The Oxford Companion of Music. Ninth edition. London: Oxford University Press.
• Stutler, Boyd B. (1960). Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! The Story of "John Brown's Body" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Cincinnati: The C. J. Krehbiel Co.
• Clifford, Deborah Pickman. (1978). Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Biography of Julia Ward Howe. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
• Vowell, Sarah. (2005). "John Brown's Body," in The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad. Ed. by Sean Wilentz and Greil Marcus. New York: W. W. Norton.

External links

• 1917 Sheet Music at Duke University as part of the American Memory collection of the Library of Congress
• Easybyte - free easy piano arrangement of The Battle Hymn of the Republic
• Julia Ward Howe - by Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott
• The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Facsimile of first draft

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