You're a Grand Old Flag
Encyclopedia
"You're a Grand Old Flag" is a patriotic song of the United States
. The song, a spirited march
written by George M. Cohan
, is a tribute to the U.S. flag
. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for George Washington, Jr., his stage musical.
The song was first publicly performed on February 6, the play's opening night, at Herald Square Theater in New York City
. "You're a Grand Old Flag" quickly became the first song from a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music
. The title and first lyric comes from someone Cohan once met; the Library of Congress
website notes:
In the play itself, the scene with the Civil War soldier was replicated. The soldier's comment was the lead-in to this song. Thus the first version of the chorus began, "You're a grand old rag / You're a high-flying flag". Despite Cohan's efforts to pull that version, some artists such as Billy Murray
had recorded it under its original title, "The Grand Old Rag", in advance of the play's opening, and many copies under that title still circulate among collectors. Cohan's second attempt at writing the chorus began, "You're a grand old flag / Though you're torn to a rag". The final version, with its redundant rhyme, is as shown below.
The song was used in a major production number in Cohan's 1942 film biography, Yankee Doodle Dandy
.
Recordings by Pride of the 48 and Catalina Strings, were used in the film "Born on the Fourth of July (film)
" (1989).
In Australia
, the tune of the song formed the basis of the club song of the Melbourne Football Club
and other regional Australian Rules Football
clubs.
Verse 2
Chorus
.
In The Simpsons
episode "A Milhouse Divided
" (1996), Lisa Simpson
sings the song at the request of Marge
in an attempt to diffuse a fight between Milhouse
's parents.
In Kidsongs' "Sing Out America", the Barbershop Quartet sings this song as an a-capella version. Later, Betsy Ross and her daughters sing it. An extended version of the Kidsongs' song was first heard on My Favorite Kidsongs Collection CD boxset.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The song, a spirited march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
written by George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
, is a tribute to the U.S. flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
. In addition to obvious references to the flag, it incorporates snippets of other popular songs, including one of his own. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for George Washington, Jr., his stage musical.
The song was first publicly performed on February 6, the play's opening night, at Herald Square Theater in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. "You're a Grand Old Flag" quickly became the first song from a musical to sell over a million copies of sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
. The title and first lyric comes from someone Cohan once met; the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
website notes:
In the play itself, the scene with the Civil War soldier was replicated. The soldier's comment was the lead-in to this song. Thus the first version of the chorus began, "You're a grand old rag / You're a high-flying flag". Despite Cohan's efforts to pull that version, some artists such as Billy Murray
Billy Murray (singer)
William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
had recorded it under its original title, "The Grand Old Rag", in advance of the play's opening, and many copies under that title still circulate among collectors. Cohan's second attempt at writing the chorus began, "You're a grand old flag / Though you're torn to a rag". The final version, with its redundant rhyme, is as shown below.
The song was used in a major production number in Cohan's 1942 film biography, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
.
Recordings by Pride of the 48 and Catalina Strings, were used in the film "Born on the Fourth of July (film)
Born on the Fourth of July (film)
Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also...
" (1989).
In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the tune of the song formed the basis of the club song of the Melbourne Football Club
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
and other regional Australian Rules Football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
clubs.
Lyrics
Verse 1- There's a feeling comes a-stealing,
- And it sets my brain a-reeling,
- When I'm listening to the music of a military band.
- Any tune like "Yankee DoodleYankee Doodle"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
" - Simply sets me off my noodleNoodleThe noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
, - It's that patriotic something that no one can understand.
- "Way down south, in the land of cottonDixie (song)Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular. Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point...
," - Melody untiring,
- Ain't that inspiring?
- Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll join the jubilee!Marching Through Georgia"Marching Through Georgia" is a marching song written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It refers to U.S. Maj. Gen...
- And that's going some, for the Yankees, by gumThe Yankee Doodle Boy"The Yankee Doodle Boy", also well known as " Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan...
! - Red, white and blue, I am for you!
- Honest, you're a grand old flag!
Verse 2
- I'm no cranky hanky panky,
- I'm a dead square, honest YankeeYankeeThe term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
, - And I'm mighty proud of that old flag
- That flies for Uncle SamUncle SamUncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
. - Though I don't believe in raving
- Ev'ry time I see it waving,
- There's a chill runs up my back that makes me glad I'm what I am.
- Here's a land with a million soldiers,
- That's if we should need 'em,
- We'll fight for freedom!
- Hurrah! Hurrah! For every Yankee tar
- And old G.A.R.Grand Army of the RepublicThe Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...
- Ev'ry stripe, ev'ry star.
- Red, white and blue,
- Hats off to you
- Honest, you're a grand old flag!
Chorus
- You're a grand old flag,
- You're a high flying flag
- And forever in peace may you wave.
- You're the emblem of
- The land I love.
- The home of the free and the braveThe Star-Spangled Banner"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
.
- Ev'ry heart beats true
- 'neath the Red, White and Blue,
- Where there's never a boast or brag.
- But should auld acquaintance be forgotAuld Lang Syne"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
, - Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
In popular culture
This song was featured in the teaser trailer for Bioshock InfiniteBioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms...
.
In The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "A Milhouse Divided
A Milhouse Divided
"A Milhouse Divided" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons eighth season, first aired by the Fox network on December 1, 1996. Milhouse's parents Kirk and Luann get a divorce, causing Homer to examine his own marriage...
" (1996), Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
sings the song at the request of Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
in an attempt to diffuse a fight between Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
's parents.
In Kidsongs' "Sing Out America", the Barbershop Quartet sings this song as an a-capella version. Later, Betsy Ross and her daughters sing it. An extended version of the Kidsongs' song was first heard on My Favorite Kidsongs Collection CD boxset.