Marching Through Georgia

[Eric Burke]

Yeah, yeah, I know ... homefront song.

vBetts, kind of relaying this to you as you're better than me at finding this stuff ... are there any direct references that anyone knows of in which MtG was sung or played in the field, or was it strictly at home?

[marlin teat]

There is serious doubt that "Marching through Georgia" was ever heard by the soldiers who did the marching until after the war as it was not published until 1865.

"Henry Clay Work never hurried when he was writing a song. His lyrics were crafted carefully, and the musical setting was of a high standard. He was capable of projecting broad humor ("Now, Moses!") or the desperation of a child with a dying brother whose father will not leave the tavern ("Come Home, Father!").
He became best known — renowned, in fact — for "Marching Through Georgia" (1865), a celebration of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea, which made him no friends in the South. Neither, curiously enough, did Sherman like the song; the general was not a man to jeer at a beaten foe. " Washington Times, Sat. January 24, 2004 (see http://washingtontimes.com/civilwar/ for complete article)

Sherman is quoted in the book "Singing Soldiers" as being so tired of the song by 1870 that "If I had known they would write that song I would have marched around the d#*n state!"

[Smokey Toes]

Actually, the title and lyrics we know of as "marching through georgia" was written to the tune of a song called "The bedbug and the flea". This song was known and heard by the soldiers throughout the war, just not commonly known of as "marching through georgia" until later as described above.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Eric is correct....

The tune "The bed bug and the Flea" has the same sound as "Marching through Georgia. "The bed bug and the flea" was a very popular fife and drum tune during the period.

It's also one of my favorite tunes, next to of course, "Hog-Eye Man" ;)

Pretty powerful stuff...... Gives you chills when marching to. Something about good fife and drum music makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up...... Why is that? :p Does this happen to anybody else? That answer deserves a thread all by it's self.

[Smokey Toes]

If you want to hear this tune, go to our (125th OVI Fifes and Drums) website at http://tigerband.stephenscott.com . It's the background music for our opening page.

Best,

[Hank Trent]

I've tried google, levy and mudcat, without success. Can anyone point me to the lyrics for "The Bedbug and the Flea"? All I can find with that phrase is "They Go Wild, Simply Wild, Over Me" but even if I could find it in a pre-Wobbly version, its isn't even close to Marching Through Georgia.

Or did it have no lyrics? Even if it didn't have lyrics, it would be cool to see the tune written out pre-1865 to see how it was modified for "Marching Through Georgia."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Eric Burke]

I believe it was originally a fife and drum song, therefore it probably didn't have any official lyrics.

[KentuckyReb]

Hurrah! Hurrah! said the bedbug to the flea.
Hurrah! Hurrah! It's up to you and me.
Old Johnston knows retreating is all that he can do,
For he can never hope to best the bonnie boys in blue.

That's the most I've ever seen of it, just those words from the chorus. As Eric said, as a fife and drum tune, it most likely didn't have lyrics--those might just have been something some sojer boy made up while he was marching, keeping himself awake or something. And even the provenance of that little snatch of lyric isn't that strong--it's just something I remember Shelby Foote including in one volume of his narrative, I think after describing some Federal success in the West.