Audio Script
Behind the history of American patriotic songs
June 26, 2015听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Tom Riis
It鈥檚 that time a year when patriotic songs and the sound of fireworks exploding in the night sky will fill the air with pride as Americans celebrate Independence Day. But did you know that many of the patriotic songs that glorify America鈥檚 past have their roots in English tradition? That鈥檚 right. Tom Riis (Reece), professor of Musicology at CU-Boulder鈥檚 College of Music, explains.
CUT 1 鈥淭he English traditions are prominent in the English colonies. The very first patriotic music published in America was in this pre-revolutionary era. 1768. (:12) It was a song called the 鈥楲iberty Song鈥� about the whole idea of what was called the 鈥榮ons of liberty,鈥� but it is sung to the tune of 鈥楬eart of Oak.鈥� It was a well-known tune in England.鈥� (:24)
Riis, who is also the director of CU鈥檚 American Music Research Center, says using a well-known tune such as 鈥楬eart of Oak鈥� and applying it to a new song or ballad was quite common in early America. The reason for that, he says, is many early patriotic songs were actually ballads printed on broadsheets posted in towns telling of a political event or a heroic act and the best way to get people to remember it was to attach a catchy familiar tune.
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CUT 2 鈥淎nd then often it would say, 鈥楾o be sung to the tune of 鈥︹�� and of course the tune would be something very familiar. And that way you could immediately get information out -- people are reading the information presumably. (:12) But also you can sing it and of course music, as we know, has that wonderful kind of, I call it, 鈥榓dhesive quality.鈥� You know it鈥檚 easier if someone says to you, 鈥楥an you recite the 鈥楴ational Anthem?鈥� Most everybody I know will immediately think, 鈥橭h, say鈥︹�� You鈥檒l think of the tune along with the words.鈥� (:30)
Speaking of the 鈥楴ational Anthem,鈥� according to Riis it鈥檚 another ballad with a tune from an old English song but a song that was somewhat dubious in its time.
CUT 3 鈥� Our national anthem, of course, is one of my favorite stories to tell. Of course the words by Francis Scott Key are famous, 鈥極h say can you see by the dawn鈥檚 early light鈥︹�� (:09) But the tune to which Key referred in the original publication of those words in 1814, was a song called 鈥楾o Anacreon in Heaven鈥�-- Anacreon being a somewhat rambunctious god. It鈥檚 about drinking. It鈥檚 a drinking song.鈥� (:26)
By the end of the Civil War Riis says marching songs like 鈥榃hen Johnny Comes Marching Home鈥� and 鈥楾he Battle Hymn of the Republic鈥� were popular -- eliciting pride and emotion in people. Eventually this led to the rise of military bands that produced many songs, and one figure in particular, says Riis, popularized these songs to a point they became known worldwide.
CUT 4 鈥淭here鈥檚 only, probably, three or four major kinds of American music that make it around the world from the 19th century. One of them is, of course, the famous marches of John Phillip Sousa, which don鈥檛 only celebrate America but very much stand in for America in many ways. (:17) Sousa toured the world and became a symbol of American unity and peace but also power and harmony, in the literal sense of course.鈥� (:29)
It wasn鈥檛 until 1931 that the 鈥楾he Star Spangled Banner鈥� officially become America鈥檚 national anthem.听 Before 1931, other songs served as America鈥檚 national hymn. 鈥楬ail, Columbia鈥� was played at official functions for much of the 19th century. And 鈥楳y Country Tis of Thee,鈥� whose melody is, coincidently, the same as 鈥楪od Save The Queen鈥�, the British national anthem, also served as a defacto anthem.
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