The Annotated Army Song Book Part 1 - World War I Centennial site

Songs for the Soldiers

singing soldiers

The National Committee was charged to publish an official songbook to be distributed to song leaders, officers, and soldiers. The purpose was to familiarize the soldiers with army songs and encourage their singing. Thus, the first song book was published in the fall of 1917. In this page, you will find all the songs in the songbook with descriptions on how they relate to the American war effort.

Initially entitled Songs of the Soldiers and Sailors U.S., the first edition was a collection based on those that “were then popular in the camps, together with others of sure appeal and true value.”¹⁵ The song leaders wanted more songs published with music notation since the first edition only included text.¹⁶ They asked Lee Hamner, leader of the military entertainment committee of CTCA, for a revised edition. In 1918, the second edition was published and was renamed Army Song Book. Songs were chosen in accordance with the song leader’s reports about a song's popularity. Songs chosen “endeavored to include a fair proportion of songs according to the following classification: national and patriotic songs, folk songs, popular songs of the day, and hymns.”¹⁷ Lyrics expressed six recurring themes: “patriotism, God and religion, love and women, rustic home and nostalgia, the soldier routine, and death.”¹⁸

Loosely bound in khaki colored paperback, this 3 ½” x 5” 100-page song book is small enough to fit in a soldier’s uniform pocket. There are eighty-two songs, seventy-nine of which are simple melodic lines with lyrics. “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Under the Stripes and Stars” contain simple harmonizations while meter and key signatures are indicated for each selection. Style symbols are predominantly reserved for phrase markings. The songs are categorized into four types: 18 national and patriotic songs, 14 folk songs, 36 popular songs, and 14 hymns. Most songs were taught to the soldiers, but the following eight were selected that all men were to learn: “America,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Old Black Joe,” “Swanee River,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Roll, Jordan, Roll” and “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem.¹⁹ Including a foreign anthem represented the War Department’s goal of unifying soldiers from diverse backgrounds - fellow Americans with foreign heritage and the Allied forces. “La Marseillaise” was so popular that Music in the Camps published a phonetic spelling of the French text to help song leaders with the pronunciation.²⁰

The subject of the songs clearly represented the objectives of the CTCA: to encourage men to fight efficiently.²¹ The CTCA wanted to create a singing crusade of soldiers and that America was sending soldiers to “a war against militarism, a war to redeem a barbarous Europe, a crusade.”²² America’s focus was to win the war. For the first time, the government recognized the importance of music as a medium for propaganda and as a tool for training. According to the Commission’s report, the soldiers were “grabbing” or “eating up” the songs in the book.²³ Clearly, soldiers loved singing, but these reports were published by the National Committee that had an incentive to be biased since they wanted their programs to be successful and favored positive stories for publishing. What then did the soldiers sing?

To find out, ask a veteran. Check out John J. Niles' The Songs My Mother Never Taught Me.

Where applicable, click on the link below each score to access a recording of the song.

Notes:

15. Camp Music Division, p.12
16. Chang, p.35
17. Camp Music Division, p.42
18. Reed, p.118
19. Chang, p.38
20. Music in the Camps, Nos. 41 and 42
21. The initial reason for including singing and other CTCA activities into military training was to provide troops alternatives with constructive recreational activities and discourage them from enlisting the services of prostitutes. The effectiveness of this program is still under debate, but the significance of the singing program should not be underestimated. After all, veterans claimed in interviews after WWI that the singing experience was appreciated by many soldiers and there was no harm in encouraging them to sing.

For more information on camp music singing, this article by Morgan-Ellis discusses Warren Kimsey's career as the first song leader assigned to Camp Gordon, an army training camp. Morgan-Ellis, Esther M. "Warren Kimsey and Community Singing at Camp Gordon, 1917-1918." In Journal of Historical Research in Music Education Vol. 39, no. 2 (2018): 171-94.

http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder8575

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust’
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

When the United States joined the war in 1917, the country did not have a national anthem. Congress only recognized the “Star Spangled Banner” as the national anthem in 1931. Written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 while he was aboard the HMS Tonnant negotiating the release of three American prisoners, the "Star-Spangled Banner" was the product of Key's inspiration as he watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry on the night of September 13 – 14, 1814. At dawn, when the bombardment stopped, Key saw the American flag still waving atop Fort McHenry and realized that the fort was still in American hands. He was inspired to write a poem describing his experience entitled, “Defense of Fort McHenry” that was published in Baltimore on September 17, 1814. Set to a popular tune of the day, “To Anacreon in Heaven,” Key used this same tune as the setting for his 1805 song “When the Warrior Returns” to celebrate the return of American soldiers from the First Barbary War.

Prior to America’s entry into World War I, H.C. Colles published an article in 1915, “National Anthems: Their Birth and Parentage” which discussed a compilation of national anthems from the Allied perspective. No part of the article, however, mentioned the “Star Spangled Banner” even in passing. America had yet to proclaim its official national anthem. With the rise of nationalism across the globe, the business of creating national tunes was becoming crucial for citizens to identify with. Indeed, Oscar Sonneck, the head librarian of the music division of the Library of Congress, issued an “Exhaustive Official Inquiry” regarding America’s national songs in 1909. This report was revised and issued again in 1914 entitled "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a review of the report was published in the Musical Times in March 1915 by Frank Kidson.

The song gained popularity throughout the 19th century and bands performed it during public patriotic events. A plaque at Fort Meade, South Dakota, claims that soldiers stationed at the fort began using the “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a national anthem during parade drill as early as 1892. In 1899, the U.S. Navy officially adopted the song as its fight song. In 1916, during a time of upsurge in patriotic song production, President Wilson signed an executive order designating “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national song for all official military use.

Although many people called for the designation of a national anthem, there were people who objected the “Star Spangled Banner.” They argued that the tune was not suitable as a national anthem. One of the most vocal critics was Kitty Cheatham who privately published a pamphlet in 1918 entitled, Words and Music of “The Star-spangled Banner” Oppose the Spirit of Democracy Which the Declaration of Independence Embodies. She argues that the words were inappropriate in the present conflict because it was written at a time “when disruption threatened to separate nations and in which sentiments are opposed to the oneness we must finally attain, viz., the inseparable unity of Great Britain and America.” She further notes that the words were set to music originally used as a drinking-song. Published during a time when prohibiting the sale of alcohol was being debated (Wartime Prohibition Act and the 18th Amendment), this pamphlet would have resounded well to moralists who favored banning the sale of liquor. Her entire argument was concluded in one sentence, “This country will not be free until she expresses herself in her own anthem, which will be born of American high ideals."

Despite calls for deposing the “Star Spangled Banner” as a national anthem, the song enjoyed continued popularity throughout the war. This issue was heavily debated during the Harding and Hoover administrations and was officially recognized by Congress as the national anthem in 1931. As requested by the Commission on Training Camp Activities, Frederick Converse collaborated with John Alden Carpenter in completing an orchestral arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. Carpenter also weighed in on the argument over authenticity when he explained to Carl Engel that the Committee on Army and Navy Camp Music ruled out “historic authenticity, for the simple reason that the American People have no interest whatever in ‘authenticity’ and will proceed to sing the song the way they are used to singing it regardless of every document that can be produced to the contrary.” Premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra on August 26, 1918, the arrangement by Converse and Carpenter was used also by other orchestras during the war and was still being used by the Boston Symphony as late as 1942.

http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder0077

My country, ' tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the pilgrims' pride!
From ev'ry mountainside Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free, Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty, to thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

The lyrics for “America” or “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was written by Reverend Samuel Francis Smith and set to a pre-existing tune in 1831. First published in 1832, the song was frequently played in the absence of a national anthem. The origin of the song’s melody is disputed, but it is commonly accepted that the tune originated from Europe. Before the melody made its way to the United States, it was already being played in England as early as 1744 as “God Save the King.” By the 1790s, the melody was being used as the Danish national anthem “A Song to be Sung by the Danish Subjects at the Fete of their King, to the Melody of the English Hymn.” The melody was also used as the national anthem in other countries including Prussia and Liechtenstein.

The first documentation of this song in the American British colonies dates from 1761 with the lyrics of “God Save the King” with slightly modified lyrics. It became known as “Whitefield’s Tune,” published in Urania, a collection of sacred songs compiled by James Lyon.

After independence from Britain, the melody was kept intact and the words were adapted for American patriotic use. As he arrived in New York City for his first inauguration in April 1789, George Washington was greeted by crowds singing this tune with different lyrics.

Hail, thou auspicious day!
For let America
Thy praise resound.
Joy to our native land!
Let every heart expand,
For Washington's at hand,
With glory crowned.

Thrice beloved Columbia, hail!
Behold before the gale
Your chief advance.
The matchless Hero's neigh;
Applaud him to the sky,
Who gave you liberty,
With gen'rous France.

In 1831, Samuel Francis Smith wrote the words, that eventually became a tradition to be recited in U.S. schools. His friend, Lowell Mason, had some German school music books that had this tune (Heil dir im Siegerkranz) and asked Smith to either translate the German or write a new text for it. Smith wrote the new lyrics and Mason debuted it at a children’s service at the Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts on July 4, 1831.

The tune for this song would have been familiar to both Allied and Central Powers during the war. The soldiers would have sung this song since childhood. It is interesting to note that there were no protests in singing this song or including it in the song book even though the Germans utilized it as well.

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000012

http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder0587

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on