"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! " was one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War. George F. Root wrote both the words and music and published it in 1864 to give hope to the Union prisoners of war. The song is written from the prisoner's point of view. The chorus tells his fellow prisoners that hope is coming.
Lyrics
Confederate lyrics
In addition to the original version, soldiers of the Confederate States of America made their own lyrics to the tune. The Confederate lyrics revolve around General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invading Pennsylvania, following which prisoners held in Northern prison camps shall be liberated.
In popular culture
The song has been parodied and the melody has been repurposed numerous times: ;Religion
It is well known as the melody for the Christian children's song "Jesus Loves the Little Children".
The Latter-day Saint hymn "In Our Lovely Deseret" employs the tune as well.
In 1913, the labor organizer and songwriter Joe Hill wrote a song for the Industrial Workers of the World to the tune, called "The Tramp", about a man who is trying to find a job, only to get the universal answer: 'Tramp, tramp, tramp, keep on a-tramping / Nothing doing here for you / If I catch you 'round again / You will wear the ball and chain / Keep on tramping, that's the best thing you can do.'
In 1914 the melody and meter were used as the basis for the World War I song, Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser by Mark Sheridan.
In 1950, the German anti-US propaganda song Ami – go home! by Ernst Busch was set to this tune.
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, one of Chile's most important football clubs, has used the music of this song as the official fight song of the "Cruzados Caballeros" since 1943. Also, it has been part of the corporate identity of Channel 13, which served as the startup music of the channel for much of the 1980s, the version used was that of Carlos Haiquel on vocals with mixed chorus, with the orchestral arrangement by Tito Ledermann. The current version was recorded in 1970.
The melody of this song, out of 'God Save Ireland' was used as the tune for a novelty record fan-anthem, for the 1978 world cup released as the song Ally's Tartan Army.
In the 1933 Laurel and Hardy comedy film Sons of the Desert, the anthem of the Sons of the Desert lounge is a pastiche of several popular tunes, including Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! as well as Give My Regards to Broadway.
The song was featured in the 1938 film Merrily We Live.
Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs
In the TV series M*A*S*H, Hawkeye twice responds to someone making a thrice repeated complaint by singing the line from the song "the boys are marching".
The German band De Höhner use the tune for their song "Dat Hätz vun d'r Welt", sung in praise of Cologne in the local dialect, Kölsch.
In the November 26, 2010, edition of the Pickles comic strip, lead character Earl Pickles sings the chorus as a preemptive strike against his wife's urge to sing holiday songs.
