The Music Of World War Two Music Essay

The Music Of World War Two Music Essay From Wilhelm Richard Wagner to Irving Berlin, the music of World War II was used on both sides of the conflict to gain support at home and give a feeling of patriotism and boost morale. Interestingly, it was also used as a vehicle to express a vision of government, to attract the enemy troops to propaganda, and encourage the home troops as well. Looking at the music of this time provides insight into the attitudes and cultural tone of the political leaders to all different levels of society Adolf was a fanatical admirer of Wagner since his teens. His passion for Wagner knew no bounds and a performance was almost like a religious experience to the young Adolph. Adolph was carried away by Wagners powerful musical dramas, the evocation of a heroic, sublimely and distant mystical Germanic past. Adolphs first and favorite Wagner opera was Lohengrin, which is the saga of a knight of the grail, the epitome of the Teutonic hero, who was sent from the castle of Monsalvat by his father Parzival to rescue Elsa who had been wrongly condemned, but ended up betraying her. Adolphs philosophy was built upon the works of Wagner which can be seen in his statement These criminals who wanted do away with me have no idea what would happen to the German people, they dont know the plans of our enemies, who want to annihilate Germany so that it never can rise again. If they think that the western powers are strong enough without Germany to hold Bolshevism in check, they are deceiving themselvesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I am the only one who knows the danger, and the only one who can prevent it. The author Ian Kershaw sums up Adolphs statement Such sentiments were redolent, through a distorting mirror, of the Wagnerian redeemer-figure, a hero who alone could save the holders of the Grail, indeed the world itself from disaster a latter-day Parsifal. (page 851). German Songs Due to Hitlers fascinating with Wagner and especially the Germanic culture that Wagner promoted, the Nazis took a strong interest in promoting the music and culture of their remote ancestors through the use of radio and at the same time promote their propaganda. As with most dictatorial governments the Nazis had an obsession with controlling and promoting the culture of the people and as a result the common peoples taste in music was kept secret but many Germans were able to use their radios to listen to Jazz which was hated by Hitler but loved by the world. Soldiers in the German army were expected to learn a repertoire of marching songs and traditional songs that they could perform on demand. (Les Cleveland page 8) One of the most popular songs of World War Two was Lili Marlene which was popular with both the German and British forces. Based on the German poem Das Mà ¤dchen unter der Laterne which was set to music in 1938. The song was recorded in both German and English versions. Due to the popularity of the song it was used throughout the war not only as a popular song, but a propaganda tool. The best understanding of German Music from World War Two has to come from official Nazi government policy. Regrettably as the losers in the war Nazi Songs and German Music from this time period has not been assigned the high heroic status has have British and American popular music of this time period. British Songs 1. I Havent Seen Old Hitler A song from the closing period of the war, still alive in the oral tradition. 2.  The D-Day Dodgers It was widely believed that Lady Astor, MP, had referred to troops in Itaiy as D-Day dodgers because they missed the 1944 landings in Normandy. In fact, these men had seen some of the ugliest fighting in the war. This song a riposte from the front became a forces favourite. The original appears to have been written by Lance-Sergeant Harry Pynn of the Tank Rescue Section, 19 Army Fire Brigade, but the lyrics underwent many variations. This version was collected by Denis Healey when a sapper with the 8th Army in Italy. 3.  Ode to a Gezira Lovely Gezira, an island in the Nile, possessed a sports club much frequented by Allied officers in North Africa. A version of this ode appears in an Imperial War Museum document, Army Songs, compiled by the Intelligence Corps at 8th Army HQ in Italy, 1944. 4.  Tins The humble petrol tin was adapted for many domestic necessities in wartime. This tribute originated among coastal command squadrons stationed in Iceland from 1941. From Ward-Jacksons Airmans Song Book. 5.  The Ballad of Wadi Maktilla A song collected in 1940 by Hamish Henderson, an intelligence officer who served with the 51st Highland Division. The song commemorates a somewhat abortive raid by the 2nd Camerons on an Italian outpost about 12 miles east of Sidi Barrani. From Roy Palmer. 6.  The Dying Soldier A stark narrative set at Kohima on the Indo-Burmese border, to the tune of the Red River Valley. From Roy Palmer. 7.   Service Police Song A parody sung to the tune of Offenbachs Gendarmes Duet. Written for an RAF station concert party. From Ward-Jackson. 8.  Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant-Major A hit song written in 1939 by Art Noel and Don Pelosi. Though a product of Tin Pan Alley, it displays a subversive humour that places it firmly in the low concert tradition. Note the comb-and-toilet paper chorus. 9.  Thanks for the Memory Wartime parody from the collection of Roy Palmer. The 1937 hit, written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, was much adapted in World War Two. WAAF officers on a Gas Course in 1941 sang of the respirator drill, which shook but did not kill Pathetic it was. 10.  Come on Chaps One of many similar ribaldries current in World War Two. All shared the same formula: the rhyme calls for an obscenity which is never in fact voiced. (Army Songs) 11.  The Firth of Forth A song marvellously browned off in mood, which was sung with many variants by RAF squadrons in World War Two. The targets in the last verse are the Ops Room twots personnel in Operations Room, Headquarters. 12.   Down the Mine A deeply affecting song written by Arthur Smith of Leven, Fife, who was one of many British POWs held by the Japanese at Kinkaseki, Formosa (now Taiwan). Inmates were made to work in a copper mine. The bunsho dono was the camp commander; a chunkle was a pick. From Roy Palmer. 13.  The Sailors Wife World War Two version of a popular Royal Navy song which is 19th-century or earlier in origin. 14.  Longmoor One of many wartime parodies of The Mountains of Mourne. Longmoor Camp is in Hampshire; a similar song targeted Carlisle. 15. I Dont Want to Join the Army (medley) The song a soldiers favourite in both world wars leads into a medley of barrack-room verses. Fred Karno was a comedian noted for his ineptitude; the RSC was the Royal Service Corps. The lyric Ive Been in the Saddle, originally sung by the cavalry regiments, was also relished by WW2 infantrymen. This track is not for the fainthearted. 16.   Bloody Orkney Crushing boredom in an out-of-the-way garrison town. The original, about Orkney, was written by Captain Hamish Blair but many variants were devised. Denis Healey knew it as Sheffield in the Blitz. Airmen sang of Bloody Shrimpton-Bassett. 17.  We Are the Boys Collected by Dave Townsend from the singing of Ron East of Weston-on-the-Green in Oxfordshire. 18.   Africa Star A soldierly disrespect for campaign medals is exhibited in this song which, like the D-Day Dodgers, takes a sideswipe at Lady Astor. From Roy Palmer. 19.  The Sinking of the Graf Spee Song celebrating the sinking of a German pocket battleship by three British cruisers in December 1939. Roy Palmer recalls a Dick Bamber of Tandragee, who remembered singing this song in pubs during the war and not having to buy a drink because of it. 20.  My Bomber Lies over the Ocean A pretty little bomber song sung by 175 and other squadrons from 1942 (Ward-Jackson). 21.  When this Bloody War is Over A World War One song still widespread in World War Two. The hymn tune is What a Friend We Have in Jesus. 22.  The Gay Caballero A bawdy tale very popular with wartime sevicemen. Versions appear in Roy Palmer and in Army Songs. 23.  Onward 15 Army Group Morale in Italy declined late in the war as fighting dragged on and, one after another, Allied commanders left for other theatres. General Mark Clark was an American who took charge of 15 Army Group. This piece, collected by Denis Healey, is also found in Army Songs. 24.The Highland Divisions Farewell to Sicily A composition by Hamish Henderson one of the finest songs of World War Two. The dialect does not obscure its mood of haunting regret for the puir bliddy bastards, weary of war, who rest at the waterside. The tune is Farewell to the Creeks, a Gordon pipe march. 25. Bless em All This song was current in the forces long before 1940 when Jimmy Hughes and Frank Lake copyrighted an arrangement of it. Bless em All was the title of their wartime hit. Servicemen used a different verb so do we. American Songs During the war, many people in the US and Great Britain found an escape by listening to the radio. Hit songs were a nice form of catharsis for the public; the lyrics were often about situations the average person could relate to, and it helped the listeners to feel that they were not alone. So, naturally, songwriters wanted to provide music that would be uplifting, encouraging, and of course, patriotic. American Songs Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive Composer: Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen  ©1944 The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and it was published in 1944. It is sung in the style of a sermon, and explains that accentuating the positive is key to happiness. In describing his inspiration for the lyric, Mercer told the Pop Chronicles radio documentary I went to hear Father Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. And I said Wow, thats a colorful phrase!'[1]HYPERLINK #cite_note-1[2] Be Careful, Its My Heart Composer: Irving Berlin From: Movie Holiday Inn  ©1942 The Anniversary Waltz Composer: Al Dubin and Dave Franklin  ©1941 Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Composer: Don Raye and Hughie Prince  ©1940 The song was written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince, and was recorded at Deccas Hollywood studios on January 2, 1941, nearly a year before the United States entered World War II but after the start of a peacetime draft to expand the armed forces in anticipation of American involvement. The flipside was Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four. The Andrews Sisters introduced the song in the 1941 Abbott and Costello film Buck Privates, which was in production when they made the record. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. It is closely based on an earlier Raye-Prince hit, Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar, which is about a virtuoso boogie-woogie piano player. Storyline of the song According to the lyrics of the song, a renowned Illinois street musician is drafted into the U.S. Army during the Wartime Draft imposed by the Roosevelt Administration. In addition to being famous, the bugler was the top man at his craft, but the Army had little use for his talents and he was reduced to blowing the wake up call (Reveille) in the morning. This caused the musician to become dejected: It really brought him down, because he couldnt jam. The commanding officer took note of the blues mans blues and went out and conscripted more musicians to assemble a band to keep the bugler company. Thereafter, the bugler found his stride, infusing the military marches with his inimitable street flair: He blows it eight to the bar in boogie rhythm. Even his morning calls attain some additional flavor: And now the company jumps when he plays reveille. But, the bugler is not only empowered, he is possibly spoiled, because thereafter, He cant blow a note if the bass and guitar/Isnt with him . Do Nothin Till You Hear From Me Composer: Bob Russell and Duke Ellington  ©1943 Dont Get Around Much Anymore Composer: Bob Russell and Duke Ellington  ©1942 Dont Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) Composer: Lew Brown, Sam. H. Stept, and Charlie Tobias  ©1942 Evry Time We Say Goodbye Composer: Cole Porter From: Musical Seven Lively Arts  ©1944 Have I Stayed Away Too Long Composer: Frank Loesser  ©1943 The Fleets In Composer: Johnny Mercer and Victor Schertzinger From: Movie The Fleets In  ©1942 I Came Here To Talk For Joe Composer: Lew Brown, Charlie Tobias, and Sam Stept  ©1942 I Dont Want To Set The World On Fire Composer: Sol Marcus, Bennie Benjamin, and Eddie Seiler  ©1941 I Dont Want To Walk Without You Composer: Frank Loesser and Jule Styne From: Movie Sweater Girl  ©1941 Ill Be Seeing You Composer: Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain From: Musical Right This Way  ©1938 Ill Be Home For Christmas Composer: Kim Gannon and Walter Kent  ©1943 Ill Get By (As Long As I Have You) Composer: Roy Turk and Fred A. Ahlert  ©1928 Ill Never Smile Again Composer: Ruth Lowe  ©1939 Ill Walk Alone Composer: Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne From: Movie Follow The Boys  ©1944 Im Beginning To See The Light Composer: Don George, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, and Harry James  ©1944 In The Blue Of Evening Composer: Tom Adair and DArtega  ©1942 Is You Is, Or Is You Aint (Ma Baby) Composer: Billy Austin and Louis Jordan From: Movie Follow The Boys  ©1943 Juke Box Saturday Night Composer: Al Stillman and Paul McGrane  ©1942 Its Been A Long, Long Time Composer: Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne  ©1945 Kiss The Boys Goodbye Composer: Frank Loesser and Victor Schertzinger From: Movie Kiss The Boys Goodbye  ©1941 The Last Time I Saw Paris Composer: Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern From: Movie Lady, Be Good  ©1940 Long Ago (And Far Away) Composer: Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern From: Musical Cover Girl  ©1944 Love Letters Composer: Edward Heyman and Victor Young From: Movie Love Letters  ©1945 Moonlight Becomes You Composer: Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen From: Movie Road To Morocco  ©1942 Moonlight In Vermont Composer: John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf  ©1944 My Shining Hour Composer: Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen From: Movie The Skys The Limit  ©1943 A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square Composer: Eric Maschwitz and Manning Sherwin  ©1940 One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) Composer: Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen From: Movie The Skys The Limit  ©1943 Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition! Composer: Frank Loesser  ©1942 Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week Composer: Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne  ©1944 Seems Like Old Times Composer: John Jacob Loeb and Carmen Lombardo  ©1946 Sentimental Journey Composer: Bud Green, Les Brown, and Ben Homer  ©1944 Somebody Else Is Taking My Place Composer: Dick Howard, Bob Ellsworth, and Russ Morgan  ©1937 Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year Composer: Frank Loesser From: Movie Christmas Holiday  ©1943 A String Of Pearls Composer: Eddie DeLange and Jerry Gray  ©1941 That Old Black Magic Composer: Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen From: Movie Star Spangled Rhythm  ©1942 Theres A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere Composer: Paul Roberts and Shelby Darnell  ©1942 Theyre Either Too Young Or Too Old Composer: Frank Loesser and Arthur Schwartz  ©1943 When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) Composer: Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus, and Bennie Benjamin  ©1942 This Is My Country Composer: Don Raye and Al Jacobs  ©1940 What Do You Do In The Infantry Composer: Frank Loesser  ©1943 (Therell Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover Composer: Nat Burton and Walter Kent  ©1941 Why Do They Call A Private A Private? Composer: Frank Loesser and Peter Lind Hayes From: Army Special Services Revue About Face  ©1944 You And I Composer: Meredith Willson  ©1941 Youd Be So Nice To Come Home To Composer: Cole Porter From: Musical Something To Shout About  ©1942 Youll Never Know Composer: Mack Gordon and Harry Warren  ©1943