A surgeon in the British army, poking fun at the rude colonial boys playing at being officers and gentlemen, wrote a ditty called Yankee Doodle, describing a yokel putting a feather in his cap and calling it macaroni, a reference to British military slang that referred to gold braid as macaroni, as we now call gold braid scrambled eggs. The rude colonial boys turned the tables and proudly proclaimed themselves Yankee Doodle, giving rise to George M. Cohan’s famous song. But Cohan went further than that. His song You’re A Grand Old Flag was the first piece of sheet music to sell over a million copies. Both songs are now part of the national consciousness. The following is homage to George M. Cohan, a true Yankee Doodle Dandy.

 

Yes, she’s a grand old flag

A high flying flag

And forever and ever she’ll wave

And we take great pride

In the men who died

To keep this the home of the brave

We’ve been tried before

In bad times and war

And we’ve always come through in the end

For the stars and stripes

Lead the drums and pipes

In the march down the street, round the bend

To the promised land

That the brothered band

Left to us by their service to all

Yes they died for the flag

For that high flying flag

May we always have brave men on call