Keep the Love-Light Burning in the Window Till the Boys Come Marching Home

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"Keep the Love-Light Burning in the Window Till the Boys Come Marching Home"
Sheet music cover, first edition
Song
LanguageEnglish
Published1917
Songwriter(s)Jack Caddigan and Jimmy McHugh

Keep the Love-Light Burning in the Window Till the Boys Come Marching Home is a World War I song with music and lyrics by Jack Caddigan and Jimmy McHugh.[1][2] It was first published in May, 1917, a month after the United States entered World War I, by D. W. Cooper Publishing Co., in Boston, MA.[3] By October, Chappell & Co. had brought suit, alleging that the title and refrain violated copyright on the British song, "Keep the Home-Fires Burning". Cooper settled out of court by agreeing to release a second edition, copyrighted October 23, 1917, with revised lyrics and the title "Keep the Love-Light Shining in the Window". In the meantime, Jos. W. Stern & Co. had acquired sole selling rights, and its imprint, along with Cooper's, appeared on the new version.[4] A final edition, issued after Stern & Co. actually acquired the copyright, appeared in 1918.[5]

The publishing history, as well as the number of surviving copies (at, for instance, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library),[6] suggests that the song achieved national success, although it was never recorded and no piano rolls were made. It was popular with amateurs,[7] and Jos. W. Stern & Co. promoted it vigorously, if briefly.[8] By summer 1918, however, it had receded from view, to be supplanted two years later by a nearly identical title, "Keep the Lovelight Burning", by Billy Baskette.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I sheet music : 9,670 patriotic songs published in the United States, 1914-1920, with more than 600 covers illustrated. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9780786427987. OCLC 71790113.
  2. ^ Vogel, Frederick G. (1995). World War I Songs: A History and Dictionary of Popular American Patriotic Tunes, with Over 300 Complete Lyrics. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 201. ISBN 0-89950-952-5. OCLC 32241433.
  3. ^ "Keep the Love-Light Burning in the Window Till the Boys Come Marching Home". IN Harmony sheet music archive. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Keep the Love-Light Shining in the Window". World War I Sheet Music. Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Keep the Love-Light Shining in the Window". World War I Sheet Music. Brown University Library. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  6. ^ Caddigan, Jack, W. C. H., and Jimmy McHugh (1917). "Keep the lovelight burning in the window 'till the boys come home". Boston, Mass: D. W. Cooper Pub. Co. OCLC 20119388.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ See, for instance, "The Okanogan Reception". The Oroville weekly gazette. (Oroville, Wash.), 12 Oct. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  8. ^ Advertisement, Jos. W. Stern, "Open House to all Writers!". Variety, 9 November 1917, p. 27. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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