Here We Are Again

DESCRIPTION: "Here we are, here we are, Here we are again, There's Pat and Mac and Tommy and Jack and Joe. Where there's trouble brewing, when there's something doing, Are we down-hearted? No, let 'em come... Never mind the weather, Now then, all together, Here..."
AUTHOR: Words: Charles Knight / Music: Kenneth Lyle (source: Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver)
KEYWORDS: soldier nonballad
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Brophy/Partridge-TommiesSongsAndSlang, p. 214, "(no title)" (1 text)
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, pp. 15-16, "Here We Are! Here We Are Again!" (1 text)
Nettleingham-TommysTunes, #45, "Here We Are Again" (1 short text, 1 tune, with the first lines perhaps from "Here We Are Again" but the final four lines being "We Beat 'Em on the Marne")
Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar, pp. 286-287, "Are We Downhearted? No" (1 text)
FolkSongAndMusicHall, "Here we are! Here we are! Here we are again!"
Roud #10778
NOTES [208 words]: This is a bit of a conundrum. Or, at least, it's related to one. Pegler-SoldiersSongsAndSlangoftheGreatWar called his version "Are We Downhearted? No." This, according to FolkSongAndMusicHall, was the title of at least three World War I songs, the most popular of which it lists as by Worton David and L. Wright. Another "Are We Downhearted" song is by Ray Sherwood, Eric Stedman, and Will Donaldson. That is not this, either. Pegler lists his version, which IS this song, as by Stedman and Donaldson. I think that's just an error by Pegler, but if you come across a song with this title, better check the lyrics!
Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: An Illustrated History, 2014 (I use the 2020 Pen & Sword paperback edition), p. 123, says that this song "was decribed at the time [i.e. 1914] as the battle cry of the British Army," so if a song is mentioned in a British Army context, it's probably this one. It was made popular by Mark Sheridan (c. 1866-1918), who also popularized "I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside" and "Who Were You With Last Night?" Despite these three hits, he committed suicide in 1918.
Pegler says that, as the troops were singing this, when they came to the line "Are we downhearted," they would shout "YES!" - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: BrPa214A

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