Hail to the Chief
I can’t begin to count the number of times they played Hail to the Chief today.
I got to wondering where this earworm* came from.
Seems the words are from Sir Walter Scott’s Lady of the Lake, published in 1810. (Yes there are words!) And the music, by James Sanderson, is from the London musical version of the poem. It didn’t take long to cross “the pond” and in 1815 was used at a memorial service for George Washington.
According to the Library of Congress, Julia Tyler, wife of President John Tyler (who served from 1841 to 1845), was the first to ask that the song be used to announce the commander in chief's arrival. But it was another first lady, Sarah Polk, wife of President James K. Polk (1845-1849), who requested that "Hail to the Chief" be played routinely for presidential entrances. According to historian William Seale, Sarah Polk was concerned that her husband "was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed."
Funny how a short man’s insecurity lead to this Presidential March based on a London music hall melody!
So I promised you the words…..enjoy!
Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge co-operation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, That's our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!
[Repeat as often as necessary to get him where he‘s going!]
* an "earworm" is a tune that once you hear it, you just can't get outta your head!
posted by Mike @ 11:15 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Poor Sarah Polk and her possibly less-than-impressive husband, the President. She must be rolling in her grave, ecstatic with pleasure that she's not married to the current president, who is so unimpressive that "Hail to the Chief" must be played several times upon his entrance into a room, just to get people's attention.
And then, the "earworm": long been one of my favorite words (next to "madcap"). I learned it from Isaac, and introduced it to the Usenet newsgroup "soc.motss" in late 1992 or early 1993; it never left. I once developed the theory that there has been a continuously running thread with "earworm" in the subject line since then. Some time recently someone pointed out the original posts to me, but I've misplaced the URL. If you know anyone needing an anthropological master's thesis topic, some research with dejanews might settle the question.
jeff
http://bearcastle.com/blog
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