"The Stars and Stripes Forever" is an American patriotic march written and composed by John Philip Sousa in 1896. Since 1987, by an act of the U.S. Congress, it is the official National March of the United States of America.
History In his 1928 autobiography, Marching Along, Sousa wrote that he composed the march on Christmas Day, 1896. Sousa was on board White Star Line's Teutonic on his way home from a vacation with his wife in Europe and had just learned of the recent death of David Blakely, the manager of the Sousa Band. He composed the march in his head and committed the notes to paper on arrival in the United States. It was first performed at the Philadelphia Academy of Music on May 14, 1897, and was immediately greeted with enthusiasm. Following an Act of Congress in 1987, it was officially adopted as the national march of the United States of America.
Historically, in show business and particularly in theater and the circus, this piece is called the "disaster march". In the early 20th century, when it was common for theaters and circuses to have house bands, this march was a traditional code signaling a life-threatening emergency. It subtly notified personnel of emergency situations and ideally allowed them to organize the audience's exit without causing the chaos and panic that an overt declaration might. Except for impending disaster, circus bands never played the tune under any circumstances. One example of its use was during the Hartford circus fire of July 6, 1944, where at least 168 people were killed.Michael Skidgell, The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top (Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2014) p. 43 .
Music
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" follows the standard U.S. military march form—of repeated phrasing of different melodies performed in sections called strains: a Sousa legacy. Performances vary according to the arrangements of individual band directors or orchestrators, especially regarding tempo and the number and sequence of strains employed.
Analysis The march begins with a four-bar introduction, following with the first strain, which is repeated; then the second strain, which is also repeated; and sometimes both are repeated again if (the band is) marching in parade (or the breakstrain may be interjected and repeated). Now follows the dominant woodwinds in the first run of the Trio strain which repeats, and later repeats again as the piccolos obligato. (Here, in some performances, Sousa's patriotic lyrics may be sung in a choral overlay.) Then follows the breakstrain, the final strain, and the breakstrain repeated. The final repeats of the Trio (the Grandioso) render the famous obligato of the piccolo players—joined to a subdued but prominent countermelody by the brass section, then bringing everything to a close with once-more repeats of the grand finale.
Sousa explained to the press that the three themes of the final trio were intended to represent the three regions of the United States. The broad melody, or main theme, portrays the North. The South is represented by the famous piccolo obligato, and the West by the bold countermelody of the trombones. The three come together in the climax, representing the Union itself.Bierley, Paul E., The Works of John Philip Sousa (Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1984), p. 43, as cited in "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (1897).
Instrumentation The march is written for a standard full American concert band. On the page for The Stars and Stripes Forever on the official United States Marine Band website, under The Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa, additional parts are written in at the bottom of the downloadable score. These parts are from Sousa's Encore Book, and are handwritten for "Drums & Bells" and harp.
Lyrics Sousa's lyrics Sousa wrote the lyrics to the piece, although they are not as familiar as the music itself.Bierley, Paul E., The Works of John Philip Sousa, Integrity Press, Westerville, Ohio, 1984. A typical pairing of Sousa's lyrics with various sections of the march—here the First strain and the Grandioso strain—is noted in the colored bars.Sousa, John Philip, & Tidmarsh, Elmer A. (1942.) "The Stars and Stripes Forever." USA: The John Church Company.
First strain Let martial note in triumph float And liberty extend its mighty hand A flag appears 'mid thunderous cheers, The banner of the Western land. The emblem of the brave and true Its folds protect no tyrant crew; The red and white and starry blue Is freedom's shield and hope.
Let eagle shriek from lofty peak The never-ending watchword of our land; Let summer breeze waft through the trees The echo of the chorus grand. Sing out for liberty and light, Sing out for freedom and the right. Sing out for Union and its might, O patriotic sons.
Second strain 𝄆 Other nations may deem their flags the best And cheer them with fervid elation But the flag of the North and South and West Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation. 𝄇
Trio Hurrah for the flag of the free! May it wave as our standard forever, The gem of the land and the sea, The banner of the right. Let tyrants remember the day When our fathers with mighty endeavor Proclaimed as they marched to the fray That by their might and by their right It waves forever.
Grandioso Hurrah for the flag of the free. May it wave as our standard forever The gem of the land and the sea, The banner of the right. Let tyrants remember the day When our fathers with mighty endeavor Proclaimed as they marched to the fray, That by their might and by their right It waves forever.
Tidmarsh's additional lyrics In 1942 the John Church Company published a four-part choral version of the march with a piano arrangement by Elmer Arthur Tidmarsh. This arrangement has additional lyrics written by Tidmarsh for the Breakstrain section of the march.
Parody lyrics There is a parody of the lyrics to "The Stars and Stripes Forever" that begins "Be kind to your web-footed friends". Its exact origin is unclear, but versions of it were being quoted as early as the 1930s on college campuses,Henry Jova. "Berry Patch." Cornell Daily Sun (Ithaca NY), December 12, 1939, p. 4. and during the 1940s, where it was sung for entertainment by soldiers at the USO."Bits of Local Fare for the Men Over There." Wakefield (MI) Daily News, January 7, 1944, p. 4. Some newspapers of that time referred to it as the "Duck Song.""Miami Herald Song Parade." Miami Herald, May 29, 1943, p. 8. In 1954, Charles Grean and Joan Javits composed "Crazy Mixed Up Song", using these lyrics along with the march's theme. It was made somewhat popular by Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy in that year. In the early 1960s, it reached a wider audience as a part of Mitch Miller's nationally syndicated sing-along show, Sing Along with Mitch. This version has perhaps the best known lyrics, which were used to end every show:
Be kind to your web-footed friends, For a duck may be somebody's mother. Be kind to your friends in the swamp, Where the weather is very, very damp, Now, you may think that this is the end, Well, it is!
The last two lines were later used for the theme song of the 1985 television series The Berenstain Bears, but with the lyrics changed to:
You may think that this starts our show, Well, it does!
Later versions of "Be kind to your web-footed friends" extended the lyrics of the second verse. One popular version goes like this:
Be kind to your web-footed friends For that duck may be somebody's mother, She lives in a nest in a swamp Where the weather is always damp.
You may think that this is the end, Well it is, but to prove we're all liars, We're going to sing it again, Only this time we'll sing a little higher.
And the song repeats itself ad infinitum, getting higher in tone each repeat until the singer is ready for the final as per Mitch Miller:Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
You may think that this is the end, Well, it is!
"Well, you're right!" may be substituted for "Well, it is!".
Another version goes like this:
Be kind to your web-footed friends For a duck may be somebody's mother, Be kind to your friends in the camp, Where the weather is always damp.
You may think that this is the end, Well it's not, we are just teasing. There's something that you need to know, We're gonna sing it _______________, here we go.
The blank may be filled with appropriate adjectives like "low", "high", "silly", "fast", etc., until ready for the finale, when the singer may end with "Well, it is!" as did Mitch Miller.
Soccer chants "Here We Go", the British soccer chant, consists of the words "here we go" continuously repeated to the tune of "The Stars and Stripes Forever". It was described by Auberon Waugh as the national anthem of the working classes. It was the basis of Everton F.C.'s official song for the 1984 FA Cup Final. The tune has been repurposed for many other, similarly repetitive, football chants.
Variations and notable uses
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" is featured in many U.S. musical performances and instances of pop culture:
There are several orchestral transcriptions of "The Stars and Stripes Forever", including one by conductor Leopold Stokowski and one by Keith Brion and Loras Schissel. There was also an orchestral arrangement of the march by Carl Davis and David Cullen for the album Carl Conducts...Classical Festival Favourites. Orchestral versions are typically transposed one-half step lower than the original band version, to put the march in a key that is more familiar to string players. The tune is widely used by soccer fans, with the trio/grandioso section sung with the words "Here We Go". The supporters of Spanish association football team Valencia CF used to sing it with the words Xe que bó! which means something like "Oh! How good" in Valencian, and those words have become a symbol for the team. Another version uses the word cheerio repeatedly, normally sung to players or coaches when they have been sent off or occasionally when an underdog has ended its opponent's cup campaign. Finally, certain clubs such as Forest Green or Sunderland use the chant just using the club name; this only works if the name has three syllables. A nickname can instead be used for the chant, such as Gateshead fans chanting "Tynesiders". In the 1933 film Duck Soup, Harpo Marx, playing Pinky, a spy infiltrating a house in the middle of the night, attempts to open what he believes to be a safe, but turns out to be a large radio, which loudly begins playing "The Stars and Stripes Forever" when he turns the knob. Pinky spends the next several moments futilely (and loudly) trying to quell the noise before throwing the radio out a nearby window. The march was used in the 1939 cartoon Officer Duck, after Donald Duck successfully subdues Tiny Tom, played by Pete. It is played by a marching band of police officers who further advance Tom's arrest. On the highest note of the brass, Donald kicks Tom on his rear end. Classic Popeye the Sailor cartoons by Fleischer Studios make frequent use of the tune in the music score accompanying the climactic fight between Popeye and the villain starting with the moment Popeye gets a spinach power boost. Parts of the tune feature in two Laurel and Hardy short films, The Chimp and Come Clean. In show business, particularly theater and the circus, this piece is called "the Disaster March". It is a traditional code signaling a life-threatening emergency. This helps theater personnel to handle events and organize the audience's exit without panic. Circus bands never play it under any other circumstances. One memorable example of its use was at the Hartford circus fire in July 1944, in which at least 160 people were killed.On This Day in Connecticut History, by Gregg Mangan, page 159. A 1952 biographical film, Stars and Stripes Forever, gives an account of the composer's life and music.