Julia Ward Howe was married toSamuel Gridley Howe, a scholar in education of the blind. Both Samuel and Julia were also active leaders in anti-slavery politics and strong supporters of the Union. Samuel was a member of theSecret Six, the group who fundedJohn Brown's work.[2]
The tune and some of the lyrics of "John Brown’s Body" came from a much older folkhymn called "Say, Brothers will you Meet Us", also known as "Glory Hallelujah", which has been developed in theoral hymn tradition of revivalist camp meetings of the late 1700s, though it was first published in the early 1800s. In the first known version, "Canaan's Happy Shore", the text includes the verse "Oh! Brothers will you meet me (3×)/OnCanaan's happy shore?"[3]: 21 and chorus "There we'll shout and give Him glory (3×)/For glory is His own."[4] This developed into the familiar "Glory, glory, hallelujah" chorus by the 1850s. The tune and variants of these words spread across both the southern and northernUnited States.[5]
At a flag-raising ceremony atFort Warren, near Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday, May 12, 1861, the song "John Brown's Body", using the "Oh! Brothers" tune and the "Glory, Hallelujah" chorus, was publicly played "perhaps for the first time".[citation needed] TheAmerican Civil War had begun the previous month.
In 1890, George Kimball wrote his account of how the2nd Infantry Battalion of the Massachusetts militia, known as the "Tiger" Battalion, collectively worked out the lyrics to "John Brown's Body". Kimball wrote:
We had a jovial Scotchman in the battalion, named John Brown. ... [A]nd as he happened to bear the identical name ofthe old hero of Harper's Ferry, he became at once the butt of his comrades. If he made his appearance a few minutes late among the working squad, or was a little tardy in falling into the company line, he was sure to be greeted with such expressions as "Come, old fellow, you ought to be at it if you are going to help us free the slaves," or, "This can't be John Brown—why, John Brown is dead." And then some wag would add, in a solemn, drawling tone, as if it were his purpose to give particular emphasis to the fact that John Brown was really, actually dead: "Yes, yes, poor old John Brown is dead; his body lies mouldering in the grave."[6]
According to Kimball, these sayings becameby-words among the soldiers and, in a communal effort—similar in many ways to the spontaneous composition of camp meeting songs described above—were gradually put to the tune of "Say, Brothers":
Finally ditties composed of the most nonsensical, doggerel rhymes, setting for the fact that John Brown was dead and that his body was undergoing the process of decomposition, began to be sung to the music of the hymn above given. These ditties underwent various ramifications, until eventually the lines were reached,—
"John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, His soul's marching on."
And,—
"He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, His soul's marching on."
These lines seemed to give general satisfaction, the idea that Brown's soul was "marching on" receiving recognition at once as having a germ of inspiration in it. They were sung over and over again with a great deal of gusto, the "Glory, hallelujah" chorus being always added.[6]
Some leaders of the battalion, feeling the words were coarse and irreverent, tried to urge the adoption of more fitting lyrics, but to no avail. The lyrics were soon prepared for publication by members of the battalion, together with publisher C. S. Hall. They selected and polished verses they felt appropriate, and may even have enlisted the services of a local poet to help polish and create verses.[7]
The official histories of the old First Artillery and of the 55th Artillery (1918) also record the Tiger Battalion's role in creating the John Brown Song, confirming the general thrust of Kimball's version with a few additional details.[8][9]
Kimball's battalion was dispatched toMurray, Kentucky, early in theCivil War, andJulia Ward Howe heard this song during a public review of the troops outside Washington, D.C., onUpton Hill, Virginia.Rufus R. Dawes, then in command of Company "K" of the 6thWisconsin Volunteer Infantry, stated in his memoirs that the man who started the singing was Sergeant John Ticknor of his company. Howe's companion at the review,the ReverendJames Freeman Clarke,[10] suggested to Howe that she write new words for the fighting men's song. Staying at theWillard Hotel in Washington on the night of November 18, 1861, Howe wrote the verses to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic".[11] Of the writing of the lyrics, Howe remembered:
I went to bed that night as usual, and slept, according to my wont, quite soundly. I awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind. Having thought out all the stanzas, I said to myself, "I must get up and write these verses down, lest I fall asleep again and forget them." So, with a sudden effort, I sprang out of bed, and found in the dimness an old stump of a pencil which I remembered to have used the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.[12]
Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was first published on the front page ofThe Atlantic Monthly of February 1862. The sixth verse written by Howe, which is less commonly sung, was not published at that time.
The song was also published as a broadside in 1863 by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments inPhiladelphia.
Both "John Brown" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" were published in Father Kemp'sOld Folks Concert Tunes in 1874 and reprinted in 1889. Both songs had the same chorus with an additional "Glory" in the second line: "Glory! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!"[13]
"Canaan's Happy Shore" has averse andchorus of equal metrical length and both verse and chorus share an identicalmelody and rhythm. "John Brown's Body" has more syllables in its verse and uses a more rhythmically active variation of the "Canaan" melody to accommodate the additional words in the verse. In Howe's lyrics, the words of the verse are packed into a yet longer line, with even more syllables than "John Brown's Body." The verse still uses the same underlying melody as the refrain, but the addition of many dotted rhythms to the underlying melody allows for the more complex verse to fit the same melody as the comparatively short refrain.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of thecoming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage wherethe grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory,hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circlingcamps, They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: His day is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never callretreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men beforeHis judgment-seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
* Some modern performances and recordings of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" use the lyric "As He died to make men holy, let uslive to make men free" as opposed to the wartime lyric originally written by Julia Ward Howe: "let us die to make men free."[17][18]
Howe's original manuscript differed slightly from the published version. Most significantly, it included a final verse:
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave, So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave, Our God is marching on.
(Chorus) Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Our God is marching on!
Judy Garland performed this song on her weekly television show in December 1963. She originally wanted to do a dedication show for PresidentJohn F. Kennedy upon hisassassination, butCBS would not let her, so she performed the song without being able to mention his name.[21]
On November 22, 1963, the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated theMormon Tabernacle Choir performed the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" live on national television.[citation needed]
Anita Bryant performed it January 17, 1971, at the halftime show ofSuper Bowl V. She would also do it again on January 25, 1973, during the burial services forLBJ athis Texas ranch.[23]
U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club performed it January 20, 2025 at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.[25][26]
The lyrics of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" appear in Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons and speeches, most notably in his speech "How Long, Not Long" from the steps of theAlabama State Capitol building on March 25, 1965, after thesuccessful Selma to Montgomery march, and in his final sermon "I've Been to the Mountaintop", delivered inMemphis, Tennessee, on the evening of April 3, 1968, the night before his assassination. The speech ends with the first lyrics of the "Battle Hymn": "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
BishopMichael B. Curry ofNorth Carolina, after his election as the firstAfrican AmericanPresiding Bishop ofThe Episcopal Church, delivered asermon to the Church'sGeneral Convention on July 3, 2015, in which the lyrics of the "Battle Hymn" framed the message of God's love. After proclaiming "Glory, glory, hallelujah, His truth is marching on", a letter from PresidentBarack Obama was read, congratulating Bishop Curry on his historic election.[28] Curry is known for quoting the "Battle Hymn" during his sermons.
The opening line of the song is referenced inThe Smiths' 1983 song "These Things Take Time," where it is quoted as "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the sacred wunderkind".[31]
Words from the second last line of the last verse are paraphrased inLeonard Cohen's song "Steer Your Way".[32] It was originally published as a poem inThe New Yorker magazine.[33] "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free" becomes "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make things cheap".
The refrain "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" has been adopted by fans of a number of sporting teams, most notably in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues. The popular use of the tune byTottenham Hotspur can be traced to September 1961 during the1961–62 European Cup. Their first opponents in the competition were the Polish sideGórnik Zabrze, and the Polish press described the Spurs team as "no angels" due to their rough tackling. In the return leg atWhite Hart Lane, some fans then wore angel costumes at the match holding placards with slogans such as "Glory be to shining White Hart Lane", and the crowded started singing the refrain "Glory, glory, hallelujah" as Spurs beat the Poles 8–1, starting the tradition at Tottenham.[34] It was released as the B-side to "Ossie's Dream" for the1981 FA Cup final.
The theme was then picked up by Hibernian, with Hector Nicol's release of the track "Glory, glory to the Hibees" in 1963.[35][36] "Glory, Glory Leeds United" was a popular chant duringLeeds'1969–70 FA Cup run all the way to thefinal.Manchester United fans picked it up as "Glory, Glory Man United" prior to the1983 FA Cup final.
"We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland" is a self-deprecating song popular with fans of theNorthern Ireland football team. The words by Stewart McAfee[37] celebrate the team's historic successes ("Mine eyes have seen the glory ofEspaña '82"), whilst acknowledging in a witty way that it is not among the giants of world football. A studio recording sung by the team and featuring local broadcasters George Jones andJackie Fullerton was released in 2006.[38]
As a result of its popularity with these and other British teams, use of the tune has spread internationally and to other sporting codes. An example of its reach is its popularity with fans of the Australian Rugby League team, theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs (Glory, Glory to South Sydney) and toA-League Men teamPerth Glory.Brighton fans celebrate their 1970s legend by singing "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, he played for Brighton and Hove Albion and his name isPeter Ward".[citation needed]
Some songs make use of both the melody and elements of the lyrics of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", either in tribute or as a parody:
"Marching Song of the First Arkansas" is aCivil War–era song that has a similar lyrical structure to "Battle Hymn of the Republic". It has been described as "a powerful early statement ofblack pride, militancy, and desire for full equality, revealing the aspirations of black soldiers forReconstruction as well as anticipating the spirit of thecivil rights movement of the 1960s".[39]
The tune has been used with alternative lyrics numerous times. TheUniversity of Georgia's rally song, "Glory Glory to Old Georgia", is based on the patriotic tune, and has been sung atAmerican college football games since 1909. Other college teams also use songs set to the same tune. One such is "Glory, Glory to OldAuburn" atAuburn University. Another is "Glory Colorado", traditionally played by the band and sung aftertouchdowns scored by theColorado Buffaloes. "Glory Colorado" has been a fight song at the University of Colorado (Boulder) for more than one hundred years.
A number ofterrace songs (in association football) are sung to the tune in Britain. Most frequently, fans chant"Glory, Glory..." plus their team's name: the chants have been recorded and released officially as songs byHibernian,Tottenham,Leeds United andManchester United. The1994 World Cup official song "Gloryland" interpreted by Daryl Hall and the Sounds of Blackness has the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".[43] In Argentina the St. Alban's former Pupils Assn (Old Philomathian Club) used the tune for its "Glory Glory Philomathians" as well. While not heard often nowadays it is still a cherished song for the Old Philomathians.
In Australia, the song is used by rugby league club theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs – "Glory Glory to South Sydney". Each verse ends with, "They wear the Red and Green".[44]
The parody song "Jesus Can't Play Rugby", popular at informal sporting events, uses the traditional melody under improvised lyrics. Performances typically feature a call-and-response structure, wherein one performer proposes an amusing reason whyJesus Christ might be disqualified from playingrugby—e.g. "Jesus can't play rugby 'causehis dad willrig the game"—which is then repeated back by other participants (mirroring the repetitive structure of "John Brown's Body"), before ending with the tongue-in-cheek proclamation "Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves". A chorus may feature the repeated call of "Free beer for all the ruggers", or, after concluding the final verse, "Jesus, we're only kidding".[45]
A variant of this version is popular atHash House Harrier events, proposing reasons why Jesus might be disqualified from running a hash trail—e.g. "Jesus can't go Hashing 'cause the flourfalls through his hands" or “Jesus can’t go Hashing ‘causehe turns the beer to wine”. The chorus is similarly changed to "Free beer for all the Hashers", and finally "Jesus, we're only kidding".[46]
Aprotest song titled "Gloria, Gloria Labandera" (lit. "Gloria the Washerwoman") was used by supporters of formerPhilippine presidentJoseph Estrada to mockGloria Macapagal Arroyo after the latter assumed the presidency following Estrada's2001 ouster from office. The "labandera" imagery was both a jab at her paternal grandmother washing clothes for extra income, and a reference to her own allegedmoney laundering.[47] Arroyo took the nickname in stride and went on to use it for her projects,[48] though theCatholic Church took offence at the parody and called it "obscene".[49]
The song "The White Man Marches On" is a rendition using the same melody, written bywhite supremacistJohnny Rebel. This version contains explicit racist and antisemitic lyrics. It is famously known for having been used in a scene of the 1998 filmAmerican History X
Former Christian singerAudrey Assad recorded a rewritten version in 2019 called "Your Peace Will Make Us One", keeping the religious themes but removing the violent references.
Quaker historianMargaret Hope Bacon wrote a version in honor of Quaker activistLucretia Mott, in which the chorus is replaced with "Thank thee kindly, friend Lucretia... her light still shines for me!" These lyrics are published in the songbookRise Up Singing![50] and the Quaker hymnalWorship in Song.[51]
The song "Mingle, Mingle, Hallelujah" uses the same tune.[52]
Other songs simply use the melody, i.e. the melody of "John Brown's Body", with no lyrical connection to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":
The tune has been used as a marching song in the Finnish military with the words "Kalle-Kustaan muori makaa hiljaa haudassaan, ja yli haudan me marssimme näin" ("Carl Gustaf's hag lies silently in her grave, and we're marching over the grave like this").[54]
The Finnish Ice Hockey fans can be heard singing the tune with the lyrics "Suomi tekee kohta maalin, eikä kukaan sille mitään voi" ("Finland will soon score, and no one can do anything about it").[55]
The Estonian song "Kalle Kusta" uses the melody as well.
The Swedishdrinking songHalta Lotta (lit. "Limping Lotta") – referring to a pub inGothenburg – uses the melody. The song tells how much a drink is worth at the pub in question (either 8 or 15öre, depending on the version), how one can pay with kisses if one cannot afford a drink, how the recipient of these kisses is thelandlady's sister given that the landlady is dead, where the landlady is buried and how hergrave is desecrated by urinating dogs and how her body decays, eventually leading to thenationalization of the pub, whichdrives the prices up to 50 öre.[56]
The folk dance "Gólya" ("Stork"), known in several Hungarian-speaking communities in Transylvania (Romania), as well as in Hungary proper, is set to the same tune. The same dance is found among theCsángós of Moldavia with a different tune, under the name "Hojna"; with the Moldavian melody generally considered original, and the "Battle Hymn" tune a later adaptation.[citation needed]
The melody is used in the marching song of the Assam Regiment of the Indian Army: "Badluram Ka Badan", or "Badluram's Body", its chorus being "Shabash Hallelujah" instead of "Glory Hallelujah". The word "Shabash" in Hindustani means "congratulations" or "well done".
The song "Belfast Brigade" using alternate lyrics is sung by the Lucky4 in support of the Irish Republican Army.
The Discordian HandbookPrincipia Discordia has a version of the song called Battle Hymn of the Eristocracy.[58] It has been recorded for example byAarni.[59]
TheBrisbane Bears, before they merged with theFitzroy Football Club, used the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" in experiment mode before eventually scrapping it in favour of the original song.
The melody is used in the well-known Dutch children's song "Lief klein konijntje". The song is about a cute little rabbit that has a fly on his nose. The British adaptation of the lyrics is thought to be "Little Peter Rabbit".[60]
The melody is used as the theme for the Japanese electronics chainYodobashi Camera.
The melody is used in several Japanesenursery rhymes, including ともだち讃歌 (Tomodachi Sanka: "Hymn to Friendship") and ごんべさんの赤ちゃん (Gonbe-san no aka-chan: "Mr. Gonbei's baby"),[61], which roughly corresponds to the "John Brown's baby has a cold upon his chest" version ofJohn Brown's Body.
The melody is used asChristmas carols in Indonesia, named "Nunga Jumpang Muse Ari Pesta I" in Batak Toba language, "Sendah Jumpa Kita Wari Raya E" in Karo language and "Sudah Tiba Hari Raya Yang Kudus" in Indonesian (all three translate as "Christmas Day is Coming").[63][64][65]
The melody is used in "Hãy tiếp tục đoàn kết với Việt Nam" (Let's continue to unite with Vietnam), a song aboutSino-Vietnamese war of 1979[66]
The melody is used in "Godiva's Hymn", a traditional drinking song for North American Engineers.
In 1970, folk/pop singerMelanie used the melody for a hit single, "Psychotherapy," on her live concert albumLeftover Wine.[67]
The melody is used as the prominent theme inMickey Newbury's 1972 song "An American Trilogy", a patriotic medley popularized byElvis Presley. The song was often used as a showstopper for Presley's concerts.
Irish composerIna Boyle set the text for solo soprano, mixed choir and orchestra; she completed her version in 1918.[68]The British Methodist Hymn Book used in the mid 20th century hadWalford Davies'sVision as the first tune, and theBattle Hymn as the second tune.[69]
Theprogressive metal bandDream Theater utilise the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the end of their song "In the Name of God", the final song on their 2003 albumTrain of Thought.
^Julia Ward Howe, 1819–1910, vol. I, University of Pennsylvania, June 1, 1912, retrievedJuly 2, 2010. See also footnote inTo-Day, February 1885 (v. 3),p. 88
^Howe, Julia Ward.Reminiscences: 1819–1899. New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1899. p. 275.
^Hall, Roger L.New England Songster. PineTree Press, 1997.
^Uppo-Nalle (1991), Suomen kansallisfilmografia (2004), on ELONET, National Audiovisual Archive and the Finnish Board of Film Classification,"ELONET - Uppo-Nalle - Muut tiedot". Archived fromthe original on September 14, 2014. RetrievedSeptember 14, 2014.
Hall, Roger Lee.Glory, Hallelujah: Civil War Songs and Hymns, Stoughton: PineTree Press, 2012.
Jackson,Popular Songs of Nineteenth-Century America, note on "Battle Hymn of the Republic", pp. 263–64.
McWhirter, Christian.Battle Hymns: The Power and Popularity of Music in the Civil War. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2012.ISBN1469613670.
Scholes, Percy A. "John Brown's Body",The Oxford Companion of Music. Ninth edition. London: Oxford University Press, 1955.
Snyder, Edward D. "The Biblical Background of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic,'"New England Quarterly (1951) 24#2, pp. 231–238.JSTOR361364.
Stauffer, John, and Benjamin Soskis.The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song That Marches On (Oxford University Press; 2013)ISBN978-0-19-933958-7. 380 pages. Traces the history of the melody and lyrics & shows how the hymn has been used on later occasions.
Stutler, Boyd B.Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! The Story of "John Brown's Body" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Cincinnati: The C. J. Krehbiel Co., 1960.OCLC3360355.
Vowell, Sarah. "John Brown's Body," inThe Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad. Ed. by Sean Wilentz and Greil Marcus. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.ISBN0393059545.
