Free Republic

I hadn't intended to write about war songs this week. But I was struck by some of the responses to yesterday's D-Day special, and, as always, impressed by the resilience of the accompanying music. It's eighty years since June 6th 1944, four score and six since the first troops shipped out, and yet that sound remains unmistakeable. For those who were there, a few bars of "White Cliffs of Dover" will always mean a crowded railway platform in East Anglia as the troop train pulls out, and a snatch of "Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner" will always evoke the...

From the first colonial chanteyman to recent “American Idol” finalist Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Josh Gracin, members of our armed forces have loved to sing. But many Americans don’t know about the contributions military minstrels have made to music in the United States. Here is a hit parade of songs by composers and singers whose duty to our country included creating a popular song. The Song Our Forefathers Hated Everyone knew and sang the tune. Then Richard Shuckburgh wrote a ridicule of the Connecticut militia to it, and his version became the most popular—and most despised—in the 13 colonies. British...