"There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" is a patriotic anthem written in 1942 by Paul Roberts and Shelby Darnell (a pseudonym for producer Bob Miller). With Elton Britt's version selling well over one million copies, the song was

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

's greatest World War II hit, though ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

'' would not feature the song in its original country music format.

History

The song was completed, along with other tunes, on Swan's Island, Maine, where Paul Roberts visited and performed with his soon to become wife, Annie Marrithew, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The song enjoyed its greatest popularity during the war years. The ''somewhere'' in the title of the song refers to an idealistic version of heaven reserved for the brave

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

fighting the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

, somewhat akin to the concept of

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat ...

. The verses are a narrative of a young disabled man, who still yearns to fight and earn his place in this patriotic afterlife. Elton Britt's version was recorded in 1942 with President Roosevelt asking Britt to perform the song for him at the White House.

Jimmy Wakely Jimmy Wakely (February 16, 1914 – September 23, 1982) was an American actor, songwriter, country music vocalist, and one of the last singing cowboys. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, he released records, appeared in several B-Western movies ...

recorded a version in June 1942.

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

sang the song on his "Sergeant Gene Autry Show." on Sunday, August 16, 1942.

Other versions

Other lyrics to this melody have been recorded by Red River Dave in 1960 and called ''Ballad of Francis Powers''. This is a song about the U.S. flier,

Francis Gary Powers Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 in ...

, who has been shot down on a spy mission over Soviet territory and taken

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

; he is shown singing ''There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere'' in prison. Numerous performers have recorded "There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere" through the years. One of the most successful versions was recorded by country music artist Elton Britt, whose version reached No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' magazine's pop chart in 1942. Another recording was made by country singer

Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985), better known as Wynn Stewart, was an American country music performer. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound. Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration t ...

, on his 1968 Capitol Records album ''In Love''.

Outsider music Outsider music (from " outsider art") is music created by self-taught or naïve musicians. The term is usually applied to musicians who have little or no traditional musical experience, who exhibit childlike qualities in their music, or who suff ...

ian

Peter Grudzien Peter Grudzien (19412013) was an American country/psychedelic singer-songwriter, photographer, commercial artist, musician and recording engineer. Grudzien's music has been well known in the outsider music community since its inclusion in Irwin ...

recorded a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

-themed version of the song on his album ''The Unicorn'' in 1974; this recording was featured on the 2000 compilation ''

Songs in the Key of Z ''Songs in the Key of Z'' is a book and two compilation albums written and compiled by Irwin Chusid. The book and albums explore the field of what Chusid coined as "outsider music". Chusid defines outsider music as; "crackpot and visionary music, w ...

''.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

''There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere'' lyrics''Ballad of Francis Powers'' lyrics
American patriotic songs Songs of World War II 1942 songs 1942 singles North American anthems {{anthem-stub