It's a Long Way to Tipperary

First performed in 1912 by the music hall performer and songwriter Jack Judge – whose parents were from Ireland – ‘It’s A Long Way to Tipperary’ became one of the best known songs of that calamitous decade. Its hit status was secured in 1914, when it was recorded by the famous Irish tenor, Count John McCormack. Originally performed as a sentimental ballad, aimed at the growing audience of Irish emigrants in London, it was sold to the publisher Bert Feldman, who cannily promoted it as a march. It was in this guise that it was picked up and sung by an Irish regiment of the British Army, the Connaught Rangers – and other regiments then followed suit. It was variously described as “The Marching Anthem on the Battlefields of Europe” and “The Song They Sing as They March Along.” Built around an affectionate and cleverly worded lyric, laced with self-deprecating Irish humour, it became widely recognised as one of the bittersweet compositions that defined the First World War era, as soldiers – brutalised in battle – longed for the peace and tranquillity of their home place. It was covered widely at the time and became a ‘sheet music hit’. Crucially, however – reflecting the extent to which a hit song takes on a life of its own – the popularity of ‘It’s A Long Way to Tipperary’ has sustained. It has been recorded countless times, appeared in numerous films, used in video games, made an appearance in The Simpsons, been parodied wildly and often – and translated into many different languages. All over the world, the phrase remains a familiar one. For we all know now that ‘It’s a Long Way To Tipperary’...

The Story Behind The Song

Born in Worcestershire in England, John “Jack” Judge (1872-1938) was the son of Irish immigrants, from Co. Mayo. A fishmonger by trade, he won a talent competition, which gave him a proper start in show business. Jack had no formal musical training and so joined forces with Henry Williams, who played piano and mandolin. Williams became his friend and co-writer. Together, they penned at least 32 music hall songs, which were published by Bert Feldman. The circumstances surrounding the writing of ‘It’s A Long Way To Tipperary’ are disputed. The song was jointly credited to Jack Judge and Henry Williams. However, after Williams death, in 1924, Judge claimed that he was the sole author – and made a convincing case. “I was the sole composer of ‘Tipperary’, and all other songs published in our names jointly,” he said. “They were all 95% my work, as Mr. Williams made only slight alterations to the work he wrote down from my singing the compositions. He would write it down on music-lined paper and play it back, then I’d work on the music a little more... I have sworn affidavits in my possession by Bert Feldman, the late Harry Williams and myself confirming that I am the composer…”

While it might seem convenient to be making these claims after Williams had died, they have a ring of authenticity, knowing the oral tradition from which so much Irish-influenced music comes. Musical notation was required for the sheet music, which was vital to generating income. Either way, it is clear that Williams played his part.

No one has yet been able to make a definitive judgement in relation to the claims and counter-claims of the interested parties. What we can say with reasonable certainty is that the song began life as 'It’s A Long Way to Connemara’, which had been credited as a co-write between Judge and Williams in 1909. Less than three years later, in January 1912, the story goes that Judge was performing in the Grand Theatre, in Stalybridge, located in the Greater Manchester area, when he accepted a £5 bet that he couldn’t write a song and have it ready to sing the following night. On January 30 1912, with hints of the TV chef who has to admit ‘this is one we made earlier’, when lifting a fully-cooked apple pie from the oven, ‘It’s A Long Way to Tipperary’ was performed for the first time, and – buoyed by the dramatic background – the crowd lapped it up. Judge had a hit on his hands.

There is no doubting the dexterity of the writing, as Judge weaves in references to other Irish songs. “Up to mighty London/ Came an Irishman one day,” the opening verse runs, before the allusion to Percy French’s ‘The Mountains of Mourne’ is made completely explicit. “As the streets are paved with gold/ Sure, everyone was gay.”

The gentle, self-deprecatory Irish humour in the song echoes Percy French, who was clearly an influence, but there’s also a glancing reference to ‘My Irish Molly-o’ (most likely the traditional song that tells of the travails of a certain MacDonald from Scotland who is refused the hand of the girl he describes as ‘the primrose of Tyrone’). “Paddy wrote a letter,” the narrator recounts, “To his Irish Molly-O/ Saying, ‘Should you not receive it/ Write and let me know!’" And there is more fun later in the same verse, as the singer explains whatever deficiencies might be discernible in his literacy with the timeless lines: “‘If I make mistakes in spelling/ Molly, dear,’ said he/ ‘Remember, it’s the pen that’s bad/ Don’t lay the blame on me!’

There is an extent here of playing to the stereotype of the clueless Irish. But of course the effect is like that of a Trojan horse. Hidden in plain sight, in the song itself, is the most compelling refutation of the cliché: it is finely tuned and brilliantly written. Like Percy French’s zingers, the verbal ballistics, the wit and the ability to laugh at yourself all point to something very different: the Irish are good at this songwriting thing.

Singing too. Count John McCormack picked up on ‘It’s A Long Way to Tipperary’ and cemented its status as a worldwide hit. Other cover versions followed, by Billy Murray and the American Quartet, Prince’s Orchestra and Albert Farrington. Sometimes it was treated as an upbeat marching song. Elsewhere, the melancholy longing for loved ones back home is allowed to seep through. In either form, it became an outstanding part of the canon of 20th Century songs. It is forever associated with the First World War – illustrated marvellously by its use in the German war film Das Boot – and yet ubiquitous in popular culture.

“The words and music of the song were written in the Newmarket Tavern, Corporation Street, Stalybridge on 31 January 1912,” Jack Judge said, "during my engagement at the Grand Theatre, after a bet had been made that a song could not be written and sung the next evening…

"Harry was very good to me,” he added, "and used to assist me financially, and I made a promise to him that if I ever wrote a song and published it, I would put his name on the copies and share the proceeds with him. Not only did I generously fulfil that promise, but I placed his name with mine on many more of my own published contributions.”

That’s how it goes with songs. In truth, you sometimes don’t really know how much the different interested parties might have contributed. The important thing is that you reach an agreement. Equally, you simply never know which song is going to take off. But, right from the outset, there was something about ‘It’s A Long Way to Tipperary’. And so it has proven. One hundred and ten years later, we are still talking about it. And, most important of all, singing it. Now join me on the chorus:

“It’s a long way to Tipperary,
It’s a long way to go
It’s a long way to Tipperary,
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye, Piccadilly,
Farewell, Leicester Square!
It’s a long long way to Tipperary,
But my heart’s right there."