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-[[Image:You're a Grand Old Flag.png|200px|thumb|right|Sheet music cover, with Cohan attired as Washington]]
-"'''You're a Grand Old Flag'''" is a [[List of patriotic songs|patriotic song]] of the [[United States]]. The song, a spirited [[March (music)|march]] written by [[George M. Cohan]], is a tribute to the [[Flag of the United States|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 [[Musical theater|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:
-:''The original lyric for this perennial George M. Cohan favorite came, as Cohan later explained, from an encounter he had with a [[American Civil War|Civil War]] veteran who fought at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]. The two men found themselves next to each other and Cohan noticed the vet held a carefully folded but ragged old flag. The man reportedly then turned to Cohan and said, "She's a grand old rag." Cohan thought it was a great line and originally named his tune "You're a Grand Old Rag." So many groups and individuals objected to calling the flag a "rag," however, that he "gave 'em what they wanted" and switched words, renaming the song "You're a Grand Old Flag."''
-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 (singer)|Billy Murray]] recorded it under its original title, "The Grand Old Rag".  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 a major set piece in Cohan's 1942 film biography, ''[[Yankee Doodle Dandy]]''.
-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.
-==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 Doodle]]"
-:Simply sets me off my [[Noodle|noodle]],
-:It's that patriotic something that no one can understand.
-:"[[Dixie (song)|Way down south, in the land of cotton]],"
-:Melody untiring,
-:Ain't that inspiring?
-:[[Marching Through Georgia|Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll join the jubilee!]]
-:[[The Yankee Doodle Boy|And that's going some, for the Yankees, by gum]]! <sup>1</sup>
-: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 [[Yankee]],
-:And I'm mighty proud of that old flag
-:That flies for [[Uncle Sam]].
-: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<sup>2</sup>
-:And old [[Grand Army of the Republic|G.A.R.]]
-: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 Star-Spangled Banner|The home of the free and the brave]].
-:Ev'ry heart beats true
-:'neath the Red, White and Blue,<sup>3</sup>
-:Where there's never a boast or brag.
-:But [[Auld Lang Syne|should auld acquaintance be forgot]],
-:Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
-==Footnote==
-:<sup>1</sup> Line taken directly from the previous year's Cohan hit, ''[[The Yankee Doodle Boy]]''
-:<sup>2</sup> Old fashioned slang for a sailor, a.k.a. "Jack Tar".  See [[tar (nautical)]].
-:<sup>3</sup> Or "under" Red, White and Blue
-==External links==
-*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100010512/default.html 1906 sheet music] &mdash; provided by the Library of Congress
-{{American songs}}
-[[Category:1906 songs]]
-[[Category:Patriotic songs]]

Revision as of 14:45, 16 February 2007