Hooray for the red white and blue lyrics

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 59

THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE.

O Columbia, the gem of the ocean.
The home of the brave and the free.
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world otters homage to thee.
Thy mandates makes heroes assemble,
When liberty's form stands in view,
Thy banners make tyrants tremble.
When borne by the Red, White and Blue.

Chorus.
When borne by the Red, White and Blue,
When borne by the Red, White and Blue;
Thv banners make tyrants tremble.
When borne by the Red, White and Blue.

When war waged its wide desolation,
And threatened our land to deform,
The ark then of freedom's foundation,
Columbia, rode safe through the storm.
With her garland of victory o'er her,
When so proudly she bore her bold crew,
With her flag proudly floating before her,
The boast of the Red, White and Blue.- Chor.

The wine cup, the wine cup bring hither,
And till you it up to the brim;
May the wreath they have won never wither,
Nor the star of their glory grow dim
May the service united ne'er sever,
And hold to their colors so true!
The Army and the Navy for ever!
Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue.- Cho.

This wonderful march, which is heard from coast to coast by high school bands strutting their stuff in Fourth of July parades, was originally written by American composer John Philip Sousa in 1896.

While they were not the original lyrics penned by Sousa himself, the following words are probably the best known for the song’s chorus:

Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue,
For the flag that will always inspire us,
The colors to which we are true,
That will keep us brave and free.
We march with the flag of our land,
In the bonds that no enemy can sever,
In step with the strains of the band
That plays the music of The Stars and Stripes Forever!

Sousa’s original lyrics to the song are as follows:

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand;
A flag appears ‘mid thund’rous  cheers,
The banner of the western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope.

Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of freedom’s nation.

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
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever!

Let eagle shriek from lofty peak
The never-ending watchword of our land;
Let summer breeze waft through the trees
The echo of the chorus grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and right;
Sing out for the Union and its might,
Oh patriotic sons.

Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervent elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of freedom’s nation.

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
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever!

In case you don’t know the tune to this patriotic hit, here is the great Vladimir Horowitz playing The Stars and Stripes Forever:

Lyrics

(Melody by John Philip Sousa, Lyrics by Charles Burr)

Three cheers for the red, white and blue,
or the red is the blood of our brothers.
The white is the light of the star
That has led us to where we are.
The blue is the hue of the sky
Where on high the Almighty falters never.
Our banner for two hundred years!
Oh pioneers! Here’s to the stars and stripes forever!

See also

• songs about colors
• Same tune: Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends
• composer: John Philip Sousa
• American Patriotic songs
• steady beat songs

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• Song with chords (PDF)
• MIDI file
• Listen to the song