Performance
First sung on the British music hall stage in 1913 by Florrie Forde, it was featured as one of the songs in the 1951 film On Moonlight Bay, the 1960s stage musical and film Oh! What a Lovely War and the 1970 musical Darling Lili, sung by Julie Andrews. It was also sung by the prisoners of war in Jean Renoir's film La Grande Illusion, by the crew of U-96 in Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (that particular arrangement was performed by the Red Army Choir), as background music in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, and by the newsroom staff in the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It is also the second part (the other two being Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire and Mademoiselle from Armentières) of the regimental march of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Mystery Science Theater 3000 used it twice, once for the final television episode, then sung again by Crow T. Robot in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. It is also sung by British soldiers in the film The Travelling Players directed by the Theo Angelopoulos, and by Czechoslovak soldiers in the movie Černí baroni.
This song is not to be confused with a popular song from 1907 simply titled "Tipperary". Both were sung at different times by early recording star Billy Murray. Murray, with the American Quartet, sang "It's A Long Way To Tipperary" as a straightforward march, complete with brass, drums and cymbals, with a quick bar of "Rule Britannia" thrown into the instrumental interlude between the first and second verse-chorus combination .
The song is often cited when documentary footage of the First World War is presented. One example of its use is in the annual television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Snoopy — who fancies himself as a First World War flying ace — dances to a medley of First World War-era songs played by Schroeder. This song is included, and at that point Snoopy falls into a left-right-left marching pace. Schroeder also played this song in Snoopy Come Home at Snoopy's party. Also, Snoopy was seen singing the song out loud in a series of strips about his going to the 1968 Winter Olympics. In an other strip, Snoopy is walking so long a distance to Tipperary that he lies down exhausted and notes "They're right, it is a long way to Tipperary."
The cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show march off screen singing the song at the conclusion of the series' final episode.
In the 1981 Second World War film Das Boot, morale is boosted in the U-boat when the German crew sings the song as they start patrolling in the North Atlantic ocean to disturb convoy traffic to Britain. The crew sings it a second time as they cruise toward home port after near disaster.
The Great Escape video game features the song as its theme.
The song is the topic of Bill Caddick's song "The Writing of Tipperary," which was recorded by June Tabor on her 2000 CD, A Quiet Eye.
The tune is played by the carillon in the Sint-Niklaaskerk church in Mesen, Belgium.
It regained popularity after being sung in the 1998 hit film Goodnight Mister Tom.
Read more about this topic: It's A Long Way To Tipperary
Famous quotes containing the word performance:
“The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it. To some men of early performance it is useless. To others, who are late to develop, it just enables them to finish the job.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Nobody can misunderstand a boy like his own mother.... Mothers at present can bring children into the world, but this performance is apt to mark the end of their capacities. They can’t even attend to the elementary animal requirements of their offspring. It is quite surprising how many children survive in spite of their mothers.”
—Norman Douglas (1868–1952)
“Kind are her answers,
But her performance keeps no day;
Breaks time, as dancers,
From their own music when they stray.”
—Thomas Campion (1567–1620)