Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag
| "Pack Up Your Troubles" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Published | 1915 |
| Genre | March |
| Composer(s) | Felix Powell |
| Lyricist(s) | George Henry Powell |
"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile" is the full name of a World War I marching song, published in 1915 in London. It was written by Welsh songwriters, George Henry Powell under the pseudonym of "George Asaf", and set to music by his brother Felix Powell.
It was featured in the American show Her Soldier Boy, which opened in December 1916.
Performers associated with this song include Edward Hamilton, the Victor Military Band, James F. Harrison, Murray Johnson, Reginald Werrenrath, and the Knickerbocker Quartet.
A later play presented by the National Theatre recounts how these music hall stars rescued the song from their rejects pile and re-scored it to win a wartime competition for a marching song. It became very popular, boosting British morale despite the horrors of that war. It was one of a large number of music hall songs aimed at maintaining morale, recruiting for the forces, or defending Britain's war aims.
Snoopy on several occasions listened to the song when he fantasizes as a WWI flying ace. In the annual special Schroeder plays a series of WWI songs on his piano, one of which was "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag". In multiple comics Snoopy can also be seen on his doghouse, singing "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary", "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag" and "Over There". He then concludes saying "We WWI flying aces are very sentimental." In another strip, he also questions how can you pack up your troubles in a kit-bag.
The song is best remembered for its chorus:
The Dutch version goes:
The Spanish version
The German version:
Florrie Forde performed it throughout the United Kingdom in 1916.
Other performers associated with this song include the Helen Clark, Reinald Werrenrath, and Oscar Seagle.
Cilla Black performed the song as a comedy/singing sketch on her variety television series Surprise Surprise.
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Wikipedia