The “Battle Hymn of the Republic“…..which is also known as “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory“ outside of the United States….is a lyric by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe using the music from the song “John Brown’s Body”…..as Howe’s famous lyrics were written in November 1861….and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. The song links the judgment of the wicked at the end of the age….through allusions to biblical passages such as Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19….with the American Civil War.
The “Glory, Hallelujah” tune was a folk hymn developed in the oral hymn tradition of camp meetings in the southern United States….which was first documented in the early 1800’s…..when in the first known version, “Canaan’s Happy Shore”…..the text includes the verse “Oh! Brothers will you meet me On Canaan’s happy shore?”….and then the chorus “There we’ll shout and give him glory….for glory is his own”….as this developed into the familiar “Glory, glory, hallelujah” chorus by the 1850’s. The tune and variants of these words spread across both the southern and northern United States…..and today is an extremely popular and well-known American patriotic song.
As seen in this video herewith….legendary country singer Johnny Cash joins conductor John Williams & The Boston Pops at the July 4, 1986 Lady Liberty Concert in New York Harbor to sing a rousing rendition of “Battle Hymn of the Republic“.
