"Tipperary"

No personal notes.

"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is a British music hall and marching song written by Jack Judge and co-credited to, but not co-written by Henry James "Harry" Williams. It was allegedly written for a 5 shilling bet in Stalybridge on 30 January 1912 and performed the next night at the local music hall. Judge's parents were Irish, and his grandparents came from Tipperary.

Verses as sung in early versions

    Up to mighty London
    Came an Irishman one day.
    As the streets are paved with gold
    Sure, everyone was gay,
    Singing songs of Piccadilly,
    Strand and Leicester Square,
    Till Paddy got excited,
    Then he shouted to them there:

    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.

    (repeat)

    Paddy wrote a letter
    To his Irish Molly-O,
    Saying, "Should you not receive it,
    Write and let me know!"
    "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!"

    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.

    Molly wrote a neat reply
    To Irish Paddy-O,
    Saying Mike Maloney
    Wants to marry me, and so
    Leave the Strand and Piccadilly
    Or you'll be to blame,
    For love has fairly drove me silly:
    Hoping you're the same!

    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.

An alternative concluding chorus, bawdy by contemporaneous standards:

    That's the wrong way to tickle Mary,
    That's the wrong way to kiss.
    Don't you know that over here, lad
    They like it best like this.
    Hooray pour Les Français
    Farewell Angleterre.
    We didn't know how to tickle Mary,
    But we learnt how over there.