Everybody knows that "It's a long way to Tipperary, it's a long way to go." But how did the distance to this Irish town become the subject of the most popular soldiers' song bar "Lili Marleen"? And from where was the distance measured?
Betting Man
Actually it all was an accident. It might as well have been the way to Caerphilly or Glasgow City for all we know. The song was written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams as a music hall and marching song in 1912. Legend has it that Judge accepted (and subsequently won) a bet that he couldn't write a hit song over night. So he penned "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", taking the name of an obscure Irish town (or county) that somebody had mentioned now and then. It was an instant hit ... the simple structure and few words of the chorus making it easy to sing (or at least) hum along to.
In 1914 columns of marching soldiers from the Connaught Rangers made the song known and popular first in the British Army, then on the whole Western Front. Daily Mail correspondent George Curnock witnessed the Irish soldiers marching and singing in Boulogne on August 13th, 1914, reporting this soon after. The march then became the definite song of the First World War and immortal (unlike most of the soldiers singing it). Used in such diverse context as the musical "Oh What a Lovely War", the animated "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and the movie "Das Boot" it is still going strong.
A Long Road from Where?
The chorus makes it clear with "Goodbye Piccadilly, farewell Leicester Square!" Far from being concerned with the army, the song is about the feeling of homesickness experienced by Irish ex-patriates in the British capital. And in 1912 the way from London to Tipperary was a long one by any means.
There are, however, several persistent attempts at making more local sense out of the "long way to Tipperary". One such attempt involves the distance between Tipperary town and the nearest railway station. While this might have given a certain poignant meaning to the song for locals and soldiers billeted there, the London references make it a far-fetched explanation indeed. Not to mention that the song only references Tipperary, a large county, not the town specifically.
Still Fighting
The melody of "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" has been used for several other songs. Amongst these are "Every True Son", a fight song for the University of Missouri (Columbia), and the University of Oregon's "Mighty Oregon".
