"Over There!": The Songs of WWI

Throughout World War I, music became a prominent feature on the home fronts and the battlefields: propaganda songs, protest songs, and dance songs saturated mainstream American and European cultures. Popular songs such as "It's a long, long way to Tipperary," "I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier," and "Over there" reflected differing (and often conflicting) sentiments at home and abroad. In addition, in the realm of classical music, the First World War would eventually lead composers to fundamentally challenge the very definition of music.