It's a long way to Tipperary

It's a long way to Tipperary (Traditional)

From "A Song-book of Folk and Pop Music" by Mario Papa & Giuliano Iantorno, Zanichelli Editore, 1977

 

It''s a long way to Tipperary (1)

It''s a long way to go,

It''s a long way to Tipperary

To the sweetest girl I know.

Goodbye Piccadilly, (2)

Farewell Leicester Square (3)

It''s a long, long way to Tipperary

But my heart''s right there.

(1) Tipperary is a little town in County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland (Eire). The town''s main industry is the processing of dairy products. Tipperary became known among the English speaking Allies in World War I because of the song "It''s a long way to Tipperary". The soldiers turned tris love ballad into a marching song, and it became one of the best known songs of the war.

(2) Piccadilly is one of the most famous squares in London. It is a kind of link between daytime shopping areas and the evening entertainment area. Several important London streets mete here.

(3) Leicester Square is another famous area for evening entertainement to the east of Piccadilly.

 

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is certainly the most popular meeting place in London. At its centre there is Eros, the statue of a graceful winged archer on the memorial to the Earl of Shaftesbury. This monument was the first in London to be made of aluminium. It was designed at the end of the nineteenth century by Sir Alfred Gilbert and has delighted millions of people since its completion. On certain festive occasions people have even climbed the pedestal to ebrace the statue. It is said that the name "Piccadilly" derives from "Piccadilly Hall", a house built in the 17th century by a tailor who made "piccadils", a kind of high collars with lace edges. The house was somewhere near the square which was popularly called "Piccadilly". The house no longer exists.