| Whether played by a marching band, an orchestra, or | | | | Napoleonic Wars. |
| a rock group, there are patriotic tunes that everyone in | | | | "Semper Fidelis," John Philip Sousa, 1889. |
| America finds familiar, exciting and uplifting. But how | | | | Popular ever since it was first performed, the effective |
| much do you know about how these songs were | | | | and spirited tune takes its name from the U.S. Marine |
| created? And what do you know about the people | | | | Corps motto meaning "always faithful" and is |
| who wrote them? | | | | dedicated to the Marines. |
| There are some surprising facts behind all of this | | | | "America the Beautiful," Katharine Lee Bates, 1895, |
| glorious music. | | | | 1904, 1913. |
| So, fire up the barbecue grill, look up at the fireworks, | | | | Originally a poem that Bates twice revised after its |
| and strike up the band as we reveal the secrets | | | | first publication in 1885, "America the Beautiful" was |
| behind the most influential nationalistic musical moments | | | | sung to several different melodies. The song |
| of all time. | | | | associated with it today is "Materna," composed by |
| "Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, 1814. | | | | Samuel A. Ward in 1882, but it was also often |
| Schoolchildren in America all learn how Key watched | | | | performed to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne." |
| the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the | | | | "Stars and Stripes Forever," John Philip Sousa, 1896. |
| War of 1812 and so admired the courage of the | | | | Composed on Christmas Day, "The Stars and Stripes |
| beleaguered American forces that he wrote four | | | | Forever" has become the country's official march (US |
| stanzas of "The Star Spangled Banner" (only the first | | | | Code, Title 36 Chapter 10). Sousa wrote lyrics to the |
| is usually performed). Key based the melody on an | | | | song, but they are little known today (sample: "Let |
| English drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven." | | | | martial note in triumph float / And liberty extend its |
| The song has only been the national anthem since | | | | mighty hand / A flag appears 'mid thunderous cheers, / |
| 1931, and there was a strong movement to replace it | | | | The banner of the Western land.)" |
| with one of the other songs on this list. | | | | "Yankee Doodle Boy," George M. Cohan, 1904. |
| "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)," Samuel F. Smith, | | | | "You're A Grand Old Flag," George M. Cohan, 1906. |
| 1832. | | | | "Over There," George M. Cohan, 1917. |
| The music was composed in the 1700s, sometimes | | | | Known as "the man who owned Broadway," Cohan |
| attributed to Henry Cary. First popular in Great Britain | | | | was a superstar before the term was coined. While |
| as "God Save the King (Queen)," the song became | | | | his film biography is called "Yankee Doodle Dandy," the |
| bi-continental in 1832. Modern audiences have been | | | | title of his first big tribute to America is actually "The |
| greatly moved by the R&B version by Ray | | | | Yankee Doodle Boy." Cohan excited U.S. audiences |
| Charles, a truly wonderful blending of emotion with | | | | again in 1906 with "You're a Grand Old Flag," although |
| what musicians call "the groove." | | | | the original line was "You're a Grand Old Rag." It was |
| "Rally 'Round the Flag," George F. Root, 1862. | | | | America's entrance into World War I in 1917 that |
| Written for the Union army and its supporters during | | | | inspired Cohan to write "Over There," for which he |
| the Civil War, the song was hugely popular in the North. | | | | received a congressional medal. |
| This didn't prevent Confederate troops from writing | | | | "God Bless America," Irving Berlin, 1938. |
| their own lyrics and singing the song throughout the | | | | The prolific Berlin (900+ songs despite being unable to |
| South. | | | | read music) originally wrote this song right after the |
| "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," Louis | | | | first World War, but did not complete it until just before |
| Lambert, c. 1863. | | | | World War II. Kate Smith first performed it during her |
| Lambert was a pseudonym for Union Army | | | | radio show on Armistice Day, 1938. An immediate |
| Bandmaster Patrick S. Gilmore. His lyrics, set to an old | | | | sensation, the song was often suggested to replace |
| Irish folk song, were popular through the whole | | | | the "Star Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. |
| Reconstruction Era (1865-1896). It appears in an | | | | "Star Spangled Banner," Jimi Hendrix, 1969. |
| extended instrumental version on the soundtrack of | | | | The legendary guitarist took the stage near dawn on |
| Stanley Kubrick's film "Dr. Strangelove." | | | | the final day of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. |
| "Battle Hymn of the Republic," Julia W. Howe, 1861. | | | | The 13th song in his hour-long set was an incendiary |
| Howe is another lyricist who succeeded by utilizing a | | | | rendition of the venerable tune. In a performance that |
| pre-existing piece of music, in this case a camp | | | | was somehow savage and grand at the same time, |
| meeting tune of the 19th century (which also became | | | | Hendrix wrestled new levels of emotion from the song |
| "John Brown's Body"). The profound power of the | | | | and generations have never heard it quite the same |
| words combined with the compelling melody cannot be | | | | way again. |
| denied, and it was sung at the funerals of Winston | | | | "Apocalypse Now," Francis Ford Coppola, 1979. |
| Churchill, Robert Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. | | | | The music in question is "Ride of the Valkyries," from |
| "Overture: 1812," Petr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1880. | | | | Richard Wagner's opera, "Die Walkure (1854-56). The |
| Patriotic music doesn't always revolve around the July | | | | composition fit perfectly into director Coppola's |
| 4th celebration, or even refer to the USA. Tchaikovsky | | | | nightmarish vision of the Vietnam War. The sequence, |
| got Russian hearts a-pounding with his "1812 Overture | | | | featuring a helicopter attack at dawn, never fails to |
| in E Flat Major Op. 49," written to celebrate the 70th | | | | raise the emotions of viewers. |
| anniversary of his country's victory battle during the | | | | |