This song was written for the show of the same name. It is frequently used as a straightforward patriotic march (indeed, Ira Gershwin later altered the lyrics to serve those purposes), but it was originally intended as a satire of jingoistic wartime sentiment, as the verse makes clear.
(Verse)
We fought in 1917
Rum ta ta tum tum tum
And drove the tyrant from the scene
Rum ta ta tum tum tum
We're in a bigger, better war
For your patriotic pastime
We don't know what we're fighting for
But we didn't know the last time
So load the cannon! Draw the blade!
Rum ta ta tum tum tum
Come on and join the big parade
Rum ta ta tum tum
Rum ta ta tum tum
Rum ta ta tum tum tum
(Chorus 1)
Let the drums roll out
Let the trumpet call
While the people shout
"Strike up the band"
Hear the cymbals ring
Callin' one and all
To the martial swing
Strike up the band
There is work to be done, to be done
There's a war to be won, to be won
Come on you son of a son, of a gun
Take your stand
Fall in line, yea a bow
Come along, let's go
Hey, Leader, strike up the band!
(Chorus 2)
Let the drums roll out
Let the trumpet call
While the people shout
"Strike up the band"
Hear the cymbals ring
Callin' one and all
To the martial swing
Strike up the band
Yankee doo doodle-oo doodle-oo
We'll come through doodle-oo doodle-oo
For the red, white, and blue doodle-oo
Lend a hand
With the flag unfurled
We can lick the world
Hey, leader, strike up the band
Strike Up the Band was written by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin.
From Ira Gershwin’s Lyrics for Several Occasions:
Late one weekend night in the spring of 1927, I got to my hotel room with the Sunday papers. I looked for a slit of light under the door of the adjoining room, but no light, so I figured my brother was asleep … I hadn’t finished the paper’s first se...
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