star spangled banner drinking song lyrics

The “white kerchief” you mention as a precursor of the yellow ribbon is alluded to in medieval and Renaissance literature as a token of affection from a fair lady to her noble knight as he goes into battle.

In fact, I believe the song’s massive popularity at the time was due to popular belief that the “prison” mentioned in the lyrics was the Hanoi Hilton. I distinctly remember newsreels of wives, daughters, and sweethearts wearing or displaying this emblem when greeting their loved ones. The first widespread “yellow ribbon fever” was not in 1981 but rather 1973, when the POWs were released from Vietnam. Passable for a bunch of 18th-century frat rats, I suppose, but not in the same league as, “Oh Anna, my Delta Gamma, she’s got legs like a baby grand pianuh.” There are five more verses in the same vein. I’ll lend ye my name, and inspire yet to boot:Īnd, besides, I’ll instruct ye, like me, to intwine When this answer arriv’d from the jolly old Grecian– That he their inspirer and patron would be

To Anacreon, in heav’n, where he sat in full glee, However, a generation raised on “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” may find it pretty heavy going. You probably have the idea that “To Anacreon in Heaven” is some raucous foot-stomper, and by comparison to the national anthem I suppose it is. (Anacreon was an ancient Greek poet known for his songs of wine and women.) Originally it was the theme song of the Anacreontic Society, an organization of upscale London boozers. (Not that I’m casting aspersions, you understand.) The original tune was “To Anacreon in Heaven,” a popular English drinking song written around 1770. Rumor, nothing–the national anthem’s origins as a drinking song are more solidly attested than the ancestry of most people. If so, what were the original, pre-Francis Scott Key words? Can you print them uncut and complete so I can get a singalong going in the clubs? Rumor has it that the melody of “The Star Spangled Banner” was taken from an old colonial drinking song.

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Star spangled banner drinking song lyrics