The First World War was a singing war. Soldiers used songs to
bond and to alleviate the stress and fears encountered at the
front. They shared songs with each other at base camps, while
marching, and in the front lines. Types of Songs There were
popular songs of the war, like It's a Long, Long Way to
Tipperary and Keep the Home Fires Burning, as well as many songs
drawn from contemporary music halls. Sentimental ballads were as
popular as irreverent ditties. In addition to the songs coming
from the home front, which were often sung in the trenches, many
soldiers took these songs and parodied them, adding new lyrics
to the existing tunes. These new soldiers' songs often focused
on antiwar or antiauthoritarian themes, and few outsiders,
especially civilians, knew what to make of songs with morbid
titles like We're All Waiting for a Shell or Hanging on the Old
Barbed Wire. See more objects and photographs about this topic: