Happy Birthday, America!*

And, since I'm an American by birth and habit, I suppose I should say something on the matter.

So here are the official lyrics to the chorus of "Stars and Stripes Forever," by John Phillip Sousa (1888):

(quote)
CHORUS: Hurrah for the flag of the free,
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The Banner of the Right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor,
Proclaim'd as they march'd to the fray,
That by their might, And by their right,
It waves forever!
(unquote)

But all that war and Might-Makes-Right nonsense isn't very pro-fun at all, so I hereby use this excuse to post the alternative lyrics to the same melody, which I've seen credited to Fred Allen (but also others) (1927 [?]):

(quote)
Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For the duck may be somebody's mother:
Be kind to the denizens of the swamp.
Where the weather is cool and damp

Be kind to your old umbrella,
For some day it may be under the weather,
Be kind to your old pair of shoes.

Be kind to your fur-bearing friends,
For a skunk may be somebody's brother-;
Be kind to your friends with the stripe.
(unquote)

Yes, I noticed that the second and third verses seem to be missing a final line, too. I just posted, asking about that at the Mudcat forum.

---

*Even though, technically, we didn't actually sign the peace treaty establishing our internationally recognized sovreignty until September 3, 1783 -- and the treaty wasn't actually ratified by our Congress until January 14, 1784. So July 4th isn't so much as the anniversary of our nation's birth as it is its conception. ...But we're too puritanical a society to speak about that out loud.