| Whether played by a marching band, an | | | | moved by the R&B version by Ray Charles, a |
| orchestra, or a rock group, there are | | | | truly wonderful blending of emotion with what |
| patriotic tunes that everyone in America | | | | musicians call "the groove.""Rally 'Round the |
| finds familiar, exciting and uplifting. But | | | | Flag," George F. Root, 1862. |
| how much do you know about how these songs | | | | |
| were created? And what do you know about the | | | | Written for the Union army and its |
| people who wrote them?There are some | | | | supporters during the Civil War, the song was |
| surprising facts behind all of this glorious | | | | hugely popular in the North. This didn't |
| music.So, fire up the barbecue grill, look up | | | | prevent Confederate troops from writing their |
| at the fireworks, and strike up the band as | | | | own lyrics and singing the song throughout |
| we reveal the secrets behind the most | | | | the South."When Johnny Comes Marching Home," |
| influential nationalistic musical moments of | | | | Louis Lambert, c. 1863. |
| all time."Star Spangled Banner," Francis | | | | |
| Scott Key, 1814. | | | | Lambert was a pseudonym for Union Army |
| | | | Bandmaster Patrick S. Gilmore. His lyrics, |
| Schoolchildren in America all learn how Key | | | | set to an old Irish folk song, were popular |
| watched the British bombardment of Fort | | | | through the whole Reconstruction Era |
| McHenry during the War of 1812 and so admired | | | | (1865-1896). It appears in an extended |
| the courage of the beleaguered American | | | | instrumental version on the soundtrack of |
| forces that he wrote four stanzas of "The | | | | Stanley Kubrick's film "Dr. |
| Star Spangled Banner" (only the first is | | | | Strangelove.""Battle Hymn of the Republic," |
| usually performed). Key based the melody on | | | | Julia W. Howe, 1861. |
| an English drinking song called "To Anacreon | | | | |
| in Heaven." The song has only been the | | | | Howe is another lyricist who succeeded by |
| national anthem since 1931, and there was a | | | | utilizing a pre-existing piece of music, in |
| strong movement to replace it with one of the | | | | this case a camp meeting tune of the 19th |
| other songs on this list."America (My Country | | | | century (which also became "John Brown's |
| 'Tis of Thee)," Samuel F. Smith, 1832. | | | | Body"). The profound power of the words |
| | | | combined with the compelling melody cannot be |
| The music was composed in the 1700s, | | | | denied, and it was sung at the funerals of |
| sometimes attributed to Henry Cary. First | | | | Winston Churchill, Robert Kennedy, and Ronald |
| popular in Great Britain as "God Save the | | | | Reagan."Overture: 1812," Petr Ilyich |
| King (Queen)," the song became bi-continental | | | | Tchaikovsky, 1880. |
| in 1832. Modern audiences have been greatly | | | | |