Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!

"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"
Sheet music cover, 1864
Song
Written	1864
Published	1864
Genre	War song
Writer(s)	George F. Root

"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner's Hope)" 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.

First Verse:
In the prison cell I sit,Thinking Mother dear, of you,
And our bright and happy home so far away,
And the tears they fill my eyes
Spite of all that I can do,
Tho' I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.

Chorus:
Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades they will come,
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the freeland in our own beloved home.

The song has been parodied numerous times, an early variant being "Damn, Damn, Damn the Filipinos". It also lends the music to an Irish patriotic song, "God Save Ireland", as well as the children's song "Jesus Loves the Little Children". It has also been used for the World War I song, Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser. Hawkeye (Alan Alda) twice responds to someone making a thrice repeated complaint (such as "Gripe, gripe, gripe!") by singing the line from the song "the boys are marching" on M*A*S*H. 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.Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, one of Chile's most important football clubs, used the music of this song in its official anthem.

This is the original song of the college song of Sapporo Agricultural College (Present: Hokkaido University), Japan.