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Photograph courtesy of Cookie Curci-Wright
Patriot's Game: John Philip Sousa was barely out of his teens when he was asked to take over the United States Marine Band.
Songs that rouse spirits and stir souls
By Cookie Curci-Wright
We Americans have been blessed with a preponderance of patriotic songs, inspirational anthems and marching tunes that personify American gusto, songs that unite us in a common purpose, whether it be cheering for the hometown team, or inspiring patriotism in times of crisis.
America's first patriotic songs came out of the Revolutionary period. Verses about timely issues were printed on sheets of paper called broadsides. They were sold in the streets for a penny apiece and used by the colonists to spread their words of rebellion. "Yankee Doodle" was the most famous of these songs.
A British army officer wanting to ridicule the shabby-looking colonial soldiers created nonsense lines about Yankee Doodle and set them to an English nursery tune. In a curious turnabout, the colonists used the song to taunt the British army with the verses--it became the colonists' battle cry of freedom!
America's national anthem was composed during another battle with the Brits. During the War of 1812, British troops marched on Washington, D.C., and burned down the White House. Then, with their sights set on Baltimore, the British sailed up Chesapeake Bay, taking with them a prisoner, Dr. William Beans. The following day, Francis Scott Key, a prominent Washington lawyer, was sent to the British fleet, anchored off Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, to arrange the release of the American physician.
On the night of Sept. 13, 1814, while Key was detained on board one of the British ships, the Brits attacked Fort McHenry. According to history, Francis Scott Key watched the raging battle all night long. Then, early that dawn, after an all-night hail of rockets and bombs, he saw the American flag still waving over Fort McHenry. He was so moved by the experience he jotted down a poem on a scrap of paper and titled it "The Defense of Fort McHenry." His poem later became "The Star Spangled Banner."
Surprisingly, it wasn't until 1931 that the song became America's national anthem. It was voted down in 1929 because it had a British melody and, more to the point, it made a poor marching song.
John Philip Sousa was barely out of his teens when he was asked to take over the United States Marine Band. During his 12 years as director it achieved a national reputation of brilliance that is preserved to this day. Sousa wrote a phenomenal 140 marching tunes during his lifetime, among them "Semper Fidelis." But he is best remembered for a rousing march, "Stars and Stripes Forever," which he composed at the tender age of 24.
The song most identified with the infantry during World War I was George M. Cohan's wartime hit, "Over There." In 1917, after America had declared war on Germany, the famous playwright wrote a stirring letter pledging his support to President Wilson. The president answered his letter with a request: "Your letter moved me deeply; if you will put your words to music, it would greatly inspire our nation's morale."
Cohan did exactly that, and his song became a wartime hit that unified a nation. His song held the promise that the Yanks would put an end to the suffering. His determined oath, "We won't come home till it's over, over there," created an impassioned military fervor.
But not all of America's anthems are political ones. Baseball's unofficial theme song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is one of the most revered and requested songs at America's ball parks. The song was written in 1909 by a vaudevillian named Jack Norworth who, ironically, had never seen a ball game He wrote the song after riding the New York City subway and noticing an advertisement that read "Baseball Today--Polo Grounds."
Norworth sang his newly composed song during his vaudeville act but the audience was not impressed. So he tried a different approach; he turned the song into a "Nickelodeon slide show" featuring his pretty girlfriend, Katie--a sort of turn-of-the-century MTV. The slides featured sing-along lyrics and illustrations of Katie at a ball game. The slides were shown at movie theaters between films. Movie audiences "followed the bouncing ball" and sang along. Norworth's ploy worked. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" became a national hit and baseball's beloved anthem. It wasn't until years later, after his song was a nationwide hit, that Norworth finally attended his very first "old ball game." No word if he liked the sport or not.
John Howard Payne wrote America's most sentimental Victorian ballad, "Home Sweet Home." Although his song epitomized America's love of home and family, Payne himself, ironically, was a man without a home. On his death in 1852, this entry was found in his diary: "How often have I visited the heart of a city, and heard persons singing or hand-organs playing 'Home Sweet Home,' without having a shilling to buy myself the next meal, or a place to lay my head. The world has sung my song until every heart is familiar with its melody, yet I have been a wanderer from my boyhood. I've never had a home and I never expect to."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
