It's A Long Way To Tipperary

"It's A Long Way To Tipperary" is an Irish music hall song written in 1912 by Jack Judge and Harry Williams. The song was originally written as a lament from an Irish worker in London, missing his lass and his homeland. However, a few years later, it became a popular soldiers' marching song during World War I. As you will see, the verses are somewhat tongue-in-cheek and meant to be a bit silly.

Our arrangement has three vocal parts, but as usual, parts 2 and 3 are optional. To demonstrate how this would sound, we have included a unison version on our recording (track 28). And to help teach and learn the song, we have isolated parts 2 and 3 and put them on our web site. If you do use all three parts, it might be fun to try singing it a cappella. We've also included a demo of this online.

The song begins with a soloist who sings through measure 13. This, too, is optional, but if you have a soloist you'd like to feature, this would be a great opportunity. For a bit of staging, have your singers march in place while singing the choruses. During the verses, you could again feature a couple of soloists – a boy singing the verse about Paddy and a girl singing the verse about Molly, while parts 2 and 3 sing the "oohs" and "aahs."

The recorded accompaniment for this song features a piano, a brass section, a small woodwind section, bass drum, snare drums, and cymbals. While listening to it you may notice that another famous World War I marching song is briefly referenced. At measure 17 (both times it occurs) and again at measure 45, a line from the chorus of the song, "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag" is played by the flutes and clarinets. (If you're also interested in that tune, Paul Jennings did a marvelous arrangement called, "Smile, Smile, Smile!" It's available in Vol. 27, No. 4, as a Downloadable Singles Reproducible Kit, and as a Presentation Kit.)

We decided to publish this piece in this issue because it's our March/April issue, and St. Patrick's Day falls in March. Of course, you don't have to use it that way, but it's a thought. After all, how often do your oldest students get to participate in a St. Patrick's Day performance?