Stars and Stripes

J. P. Sousa

transcribed from A Prarie Home Companion, 20th Anniversary (tape 3B)

Vern Sutton, vocals

Phillip Brunelle, piano

Let eagle shriek from lofty peak,
the neverending watchword of our land,
and summer breeze waft through the trees,
the echo of the forest grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for union and its might
oh patriotic sons.

Other nations may deem their flags the best
and cheer them with fervored elation.
But the flag of the north and south and west
is the flag of flags, the flag of freedoms nation.

HooRah 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.