Soldier's Joy

[fatt-dad]

Last night I was playing with some OT folks at an old-folks home (very attentive audience). We played Soldier's Joy, which I introduced. I thought I had it correct saying it was about their paycheck, but my play-mates corrected me (they are really more experienced OT players), saying it was about morphine - apparently this introduction made quite an impression on the soldiers.

Anybody have further discussion on this?

f-d

[Jonathan James]

According to some of the lyrics I've seen, there is this reference to morphine, which I understood to be "soldiers joy" in the eighteenth century:

"Twenty five cents for whiskey, 25 cents for beer
Twenty five cents for morphine, get me out of here..."

and this version from Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys:

"Well it's twenty-five cents for the morphine
Fifteen cents for the beer
Twenty-five cents for the morphine
Gonna take me away from here"

[John Flynn]

I had this discussion on another forum. There is documentation of the tune "Soldier's Joy" going back to the Revolutionary War. It may be older, but it is at least that old. Morphine was not invented until the early 1800's and the hypodermic needle to make it practical for military field use did come into use until the Civil War time frame. So it is likely that the more benign verses may be the original verses. The morphine verses were probably adpated during "The War of Northern Agresssion." (only an attempt at humor!) The verse we always start with begins "I am my father's only son..." and the theme is about a soldier's joy being thoughts of his family and going home.

[TeleMark]

My first mandolin teacher, who was a student of song origins, mentioned that SJ was the first recorded song to posess "drug" content.

He was usually right when I looked it up myself, so I've no reason to doubt that one either.

[Jim M.]

Morphine was first isolated in 1804. The tune for Soldier's Joy pre-dates that by a good while.

If you want to talk real old time, Robert Burns wrote lyrics to the tune sometime in the late 1700's:

I am a son of Mars who have been in many wars,
And show my cuts and scars wherever I come;
This here was for a wench, and that other in a trench,
When welcoming the French at the sound of the drum.
Lal de daudle, &c.

My 'prenticeship I past where my leader breath'd his last,
When the bloody die was cast on the heights of Abram:
and I served out my trade when the gallant game was play'd,
And the Morro low was laid at the sound of the drum.

I lastly was with Curtis among the floating batt'ries,
And there I left for witness an arm and a limb;
Yet let my country need me, with Elliot to head me,
I'd clatter on my stumps at the sound of a drum.

And now tho' I must beg, with a wooden arm and leg,
And many a tatter'd rag hanging over my bum,
I'm as happy with my wallet, my bottle, and my callet,
As when I used in scarlet to follow a drum.

What tho' with hoary locks, I must stand the winter shocks,
Beneath the woods and rocks oftentimes for a home,
When the t'other bag I sell, and the t'other bottle tell,
I could meet a troop of hell, at the sound of a drum.

Tell that to your old time friends and trump their beliefs. # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

And if you want more information than you thought possible about the tune, check out Fiddler's Companion

Fiddlers Companion (http://www.ceolas.org/cgi-bin/ht2/ht2-fc2/file=/tunes/fc2/fc.html&style=&refer=&abstract=&ftpstyle=&grab=&linemode=&max=250?soldier%27s+joy)

[Flowerpot]

I wonder if the tune has changed, too, as I can't get those 18th century words to fit the tune. The lyrics about the beer and morphine seem to fit just fine.

[Tom Smart]

Morphine was first isolated in 1804. The tune for Soldier's Joy pre-dates that by a good while.
The tune goes by many, many names, and lots of different verses have been added to it over the hundreds of years the tune has been played.

Obviously, the tune was not "written about morphine," and the title "Soldier's Joy" was applied to it long after it was first played. So the question remains, when was the term "Soldier's Joy" first coined, and what does it mean?

By the way, payday and intoxicants often go hand-in-hand, so maybe it means both.

[Ken Sager]

Getting paid, laid, tight, lit, shot at, shot up, making music, whatever. It's a treasure of a song, and one that Tom and Lewis call God's Favorite. I'll take their word for it.

KS

[John Flynn]

As to when, we will likely never know. It was clearly around with that title during the Revolutionary War. Two verses from the Fiddler's Companion link above may give a clue as to the meaning:

I'm a-gonna get a drink, don't you wanna go?
Hold on Soldier's Joy.

Dance all night, fiddle all day,
That's a Soldier's Joy.

One thing about Old-Time music is that it is an aural tradition, so a lot has been lost to history. I suspect there will never be a definitive answer.

[Paul Kotapish]

There is no conclusive--or obvious--evidence about when the tune "Soldier's Joy" was first composed and played or about what is referenced by the name. A lot of melodies that are now played as wordless fiddle tunes started out as songs and a lot tunes picked up verses along the way.

Morphine addiction--or "Army disease," as it was often referred to at the time--afflicted as many as 400,000 veterans in the 1800s, so it isn't unreasonable to associate the expression "soldier's joy" with morphine, but in the absence of real proof, it's just speculation.

Interesting, though.

I've heard one ethnomusicologist hypothesize that "Soldier's Joy" is the most universal tune on earth, and that virtually every musical culture that incorporates a semblance of the wester major scale has some version of the tune. There's a dissertation in there somewhere.

[Jim M.]

I wonder if the tune has changed, too, as I can't get those 18th century words to fit the tune. #The lyrics about the beer and morphine seem to fit just fine.
I can get those lyrics to fit the tune. Call me and I'll sing it for you. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[GBG]

In spite of the urge to glorify drug use as the basis of this tune, just maybe a "soldier's joy" was in hearing this tune played by a fiddler in camp where there were few if any other sources of joy to be found in his life.

[Jim M.]

I don't believe the intent was to glorify drug use. If you got hit with a Minnie ball, morphine, which you had to pay for, was the best pain reliever.

[fatt-dad]

Interesting replies! As I figured, there's no answer in sight, but I find it interesting that morphine and the invention of the hypodermic (sp) needle took placed AFTER the historical "beginning" of the tune. No doubt from the lyrics cited above, it's not likely a reference to somebody getting their paycheck (at least the type of paycheck that I'm used to).

f-d

[John Flynn]

I doubt the term "paycheck" would have been a part of the lyrics in the Revolutionary or the Civil Wars. Soldiers were paid in cash back then.

[pickinpox]

I've played that tune for 40 years in one form or another and never realized it had lyrics.

[cooper4205]

it's likely the song changed to fit the times- that's pretty common with trad. music, i did find this little tidbit which might support the morphine theory

"Opiates (morpine) were used to treat not just wounds but chronic campaign diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, and malaria. Narcotics became even more popular after the war as invalided veterans sought relief from constant pain."

also from what i have read it was the turn of the century before addiction was associated with morphine

[Jefa432]

I heard it was about women and called "Women In the Barracks" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[JGWoods]

Another name for Soldiers Joy is Kings Head or The Kings Head- likely a reference to the kings face being on coins- so I go with the paycheck idea as being one likely Joy of the Soldiers life.

[jefflester]

(Alt-folk artist) Michelle Shocked's version is morphine. She did an album called "Arkansas Traveler" where she re-interpreted many old fiddle tunes with her own lyrics.


Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy) # #

Shaking hands and fingers that do tremble
Soldier's Joy has been a bitter pill
Though in battle, a brave man I resemble
Alone I am a coward without will

Pierce McGee from the great State of Missouri
To the Show-Me-State militia I belong
And to judge from the pride on the Confederate side
I'd say five hundred thousand rebels can't be wrong

A rebel stand is no place for a traitor
A loveless Union cannot bend us to her will
Cannot command the soldiers who now hate her
Nor demand the fealty of her generals

I took a rifle ball in my shoulder
But my entire body filled with pain
I pleaded with them all at the field hospital
"Oh, God, another shot of morphine!"

Soldier's Joy, oh what's the point in pleasure
When it's only meant to kill the pain
Lay down my arms and take the coffin's measure
Or take up arms and send me out to fight again

Shaking hands...was I a coward, was I brave?
With shaking hands, I took the bitter pill
Now tell the story on my grave, my soul they could not save
What the bullet would not kill, the needle will

[GrizzlyPicker]

Do a search for "Soldier's Joy" in Google Book Search (http://books.google.com). #

Here is a book from 1899:

A Little Book of Scottish verse (http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC11627003&id=Cc2dGZJ7Fg0C&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=%22soldier%27s+joy%22)

-Justin

[hokelore]

I heard it was about women and called "Women In the Barracks" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Put me behind a microphone and there's no telling what I'll say. A band I was in played a live radio show once, and I introduced the tune as "Soldier's Joy, also known as The Whore In The Barracks." My bandmates froze in shock, but the host loved it.

[Strange1]

Why do these lines I attribute to Soldiers Joy keep running thru my mind?........."Jimmy get the fiddle down,and rosin up the bow, Johnny get the banjer out, we're gonna have a show, Billy pass the jug around to Corporal McCoy we're gonna have a tune called Soldiers Joy". Heck, mabye I wrote that while I was under the effects of morphine on the battle field in another life..

Jack

[Strange1]

Finally found the lyrics by Jimmie Driftwood. http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiSLDRSJOY.html

[Andrée]

Hi, Jack. This is the way Hawkshaw Hawkins recorded it.


https://youtu.be/hbofGN9RHXk?si=lHluzmhO2t6EcZsm

[Russ Jordan]

Guy Clark and Shawn Camp’s Soldier’s Joy 1864 has the morphine connection:

Now first I thought a snake had got me, it happened dreadful quick
'Twas a bullet bit my leg, right off I got sick
I came to in a wagonload of ten more wounded men
Five was dead by the time we reached that bloody tent
Gimme some of that Soldier's Joy, you know what I mean
I don't want to hurt no more, my leg is turnin' green
Well the doctor came and looked at me and this is what he said
Said, "Your dancin' days are done, son, it's a good thing you ain't dead"
Then he went to work with a carvin' knifed, sweat fell from his brow
'Bout killed me tryin' to save my life when he cut that lead ball out
Gimme some of that Soldier's Joy, ain't you got no more
Hand me down my walkin' cane, I ain't cut out for war
Well the red blood run right through my veins, it run all over the floor
And it run right down his apron strings, like a river out the door
And he handed me a bottle said, "Son drink deep as you can"
He turned away and he turned right back with a hacksaw in his hand
Gimme some of that Soldier's Joy you know what I like
Bear down on that fiddle boys just like Saturday night
Gimme some of that Soldier's Joy you know what I crave
I'll be hittin' that Soldier's Joy 'til I'm in my grave

[tmsweeney]

I don't believe the song "glorifies" drug use, I think ultimately a "Soldiers Joy" is for the battle to be over and the Soldier still alive, where the soldier can celebrate by drinking, dancing, making love, playing music whatever, but most importantly not being soldiers in a war.

It is a method of laughing in the face of horror, trying to find comfort where none seems possible.

I've never had my limbs shattered by a hot lead ball in a remote field where amputation is the only practical medical technique, so I dunno, seems if a person in that situation wants morphine they can have all they want.

Sounds like the lyrics address the addiction issue as well, as if war can't do enough damage as it is.

Adding new versus to popular music to fit the times is an old practice and one that will be around for a long time.

Unfortunately someone will probably be adding new versus to "Soldiers Joy" as we seem to have plenty of real life situations to draw from.

I think I will stick to the instrumental version

[Charles E.]

It has been said that there are only two tunes in Old Time music, one of them is Soldiers Joy, the other isn't.

[Fretbear]

Sam Bush says his dad always called it "Payday in the Army"