The Star Spangled Banner, 1814, Francis Scott Key

Written by Francis Scott Key at Fort McHenry, it has been the National anthem since 1931

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 rocket's 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?

My Country 'tis of Thee, 1832, Samuel F. Smith

This song was sung to the same tune as the national anthem of Great Britain and several British Commonwealth Countries.

My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing.
Land, where my fathers died;
Land of the Pilgrim's pride;
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.

The Concord Hymn, 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sung at the completion of the Concord Monument in Concord, Massachusetts, April 19, 1836, this poem by the great American poet, philosopher, and writer immortalizes the minutemen who sparked the American Revolution, and hints at its global impact.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We place with joy a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

O thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.

The Marine Corps Hymn, Mid 19 th Century, Anonymous

While the author of the lyrics is unknown, the music is from an opera written by Jacques Offenbach. Winston Churchill, an ardent admirer of the US Marine Corps, knew all three verses by heart.

From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli ,
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title
Of the United States Marine

Our flag's unfurl'd to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By the United States Marines.

Home on the Range, 1870, Daniel E. Kelley

The state song of Kansas, its lyrics continue to capture the spirit of the West and the call of the wild. Musical score by Brewster Higley.

Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Chorus:
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

The red man was pressed from this part of the West,
He's likely no more to return
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn

Where the air is so pure, the zephyres so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all the cities so bright.

America the Beautiful, 1893, Katherine Lee Bates

Katherine Bates, a school teacher, was inspired to write this unofficial national anthem on a trip up Pike's Peak, in Colorado .

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

God Bless America, 1918, Irving Berlin

This unofficial national anthem was the preferred song at memorials for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

God Bless America
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.

From the mountains,
To the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam.
God Bless America ,
My home, sweet home.