View source for The Army Goes Rolling Along

{{Short description|Official march of the United States Army}}
{{Infobox anthem
|title          = The Army Goes Rolling Along
|transcription  = 
|english_title  = 
|alt_title      = "The Army Song"
|en_alt_title   = 
|alt_title_2    = 
|en_alt_title_2 = 
|image          =
|image_size     = 
|alt            = 
|caption        = 
|prefix         = Organizational
|type           = anthem
|country        = the [[U.S. Army]]
|author         = Harold W. Arberg
|lyrics_date    = November 1956
|composer       = [[Edmund L. Gruber]]
|music_date     = 1908
|adopted        = {{start date and age|1956|11|11}}
|until          = 
|sound          = The Army Song - Band and Chorus - United States Army Band.mp3
|sound_title    = Performed by the U.S. Army Band
}}
"'''The Army Goes Rolling Along'''" is the official song of the [[United States Army]]<ref name="AR 220-90">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040119072703/http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r220_90.pdf Army Regulation 220-90], ''Army Bands'', 14 December 2007, para 2-5f, g</ref> and is typically called "'''The Army Song'''". It is adapted from an earlier work from 1908 entitled "The Caissons Go Rolling Along", which was in turn incorporated into [[John Philip Sousa]]'s "[[U.S. Field Artillery March]]" in 1917.

==History==
The original version of this song, written in 1908 by [[Edmund Gruber]], was titled "The [[Limbers and caissons|Caissons]] Go Rolling Along." Those lyrics differ from the current official version.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJybwgtR970 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/yJybwgtR970 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=As the Caissons Go Rolling Along |access-date=September 18, 2018 |via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Gruber's version was transformed into a march by [[John Philip Sousa]] in 1917 and renamed the "[[U.S. Field Artillery March]]."

In 1944 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous Federal Court ruling that Gruber, though he had permitted the song to be included in a 1921 complilation of West Point songs, had never formally copyrighted the work.<ref>"'Caissons' Ruled in Public Domain by U.S. Appeals Court." Billboard, 8 January 1944, 15.</ref>

The [[United States Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], and [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] had adopted official songs, and the Army was eager to find one of its own. They conducted a contest in 1948 to find an official song, but no entry received much popular support.<ref>[[Tom Lehrer]] claims to have submitted his [[parody]], "[[It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier]]", in this contest.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}</ref> In 1952, [[Secretary of the Army]] [[Frank Pace]] asked the music industry to submit songs; he received more than 800 entries. "The Army's Always There" by [[Sam H. Stept]] won,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081222122812/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,820890,00.html ''Time'' magazine], January 19, 1953</ref> and an [[United States military bands|Army band]] performed it at President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]'s inaugural parade on January 20, 1953.

Many thought that the [[melody]] was too similar to "[[I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts]]". The Army decided to use much of the melody from Sousa's "[[U.S. Field Artillery March]]" with new lyrics. Harold W. Arberg, a music advisor to the [[Adjutant General]], submitted lyrics that the Army adopted.<ref>Dorr, Robert, [http://www.harmonize.com/westchesterchordsmen/Westcobull42.pdf ''Westchester Chordsmen''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060814044147/http://www.harmonize.com/westchesterchordsmen/Westcobull42.pdf |date=2006-08-14 }}, December 2004, p. 4</ref> Secretary of the Army [[Wilber Marion Brucker]] dedicated the music on [[Veterans Day]], November 11, 1956.<ref>[https://rdl.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/25908-1/tc/3-21.5/toc.htm Army Training Circular TC 3-21.5],{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''Drill and Ceremonies'', 20 January 2012, para. 1-2h</ref> The song is played after most U.S. Army ceremonies, and all soldiers are expected to stand at attention and sing. When more than one service song is played, they are played in the order specified by Department of Defense directive: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130622000532/http://www.music.army.mil/music/armysong/ Army song]</ref>

==Lyrics==
The following lyrics are to "The Army Goes Rolling Along."<br />This is the official version, dating to 1956.<br />As of May 8, 2013, only the first verse, the chorus, and refrain are sung (Most likely due to the second and third choruses being about a war).<ref>Source: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121209015624/http://bands.army.mil/music/armysong/ U.S. Army Bands] information and recordings</ref>

'''Verse:'''
:March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free
:Count the brave, count the true, who have fought to victory
:We're the Army and proud of our name
:We're the Army and proudly proclaim

''' First Chorus:'''
:First to fight for the right,
:And to build the Nation's might,
:And the Army goes rolling along
:Proud of all we have done,
:Fighting 'til the battle's won,
:And the Army goes rolling along.

'''Refrain:'''
:Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey!
:The Army's on its way.
:Count off the [[Military cadence|cadence]] loud and strong
:For where e'er we go,
:You will always know
:That the Army goes rolling along.

'''Second Chorus:'''
:[[Valley Forge]], [[George Armstrong Custer|Custer's]] ranks,
:[[Battle of San Juan Hill|San Juan Hill]] and [[George Patton|Patton's]] [[4th Armored Division (United States)|tanks]],
:And the Army went rolling along
:[[Minutemen]], from [[Continental Army|the start]],
:Always fighting from the heart,
:And the Army keeps rolling along.

:(''Refrain'')

'''Third Chorus:'''
:Men in rags, men who froze,
:Still that Army met its foes,
:And the Army went rolling along.
:Faith in God, then we're right,
:And we'll fight with all our might,
:As the Army keeps rolling along.

:(''Refrain'')

==In popular culture==
*The tune was used in 44 movies or television series from 1934 to 2011.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1241402/ Internet Movie Database], entry for Gruber</ref>
*[[Robert A. Heinlein]] used the 1908 Caisson Song as the basis for "The Road Song of the Transport Cadets", the official song of the fictional United States Academy of Transport in his 1940 short story "[[The Roads Must Roll]]". However, characters in the story refer to the origin as both the "Song of the Caissons" and the "field artillery song."<ref>[[Robert A. Heinlein|Heinlein, Robert A]]. "[[The Roads Must Roll]]." ''The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964.'' Ed. [[Robert Silverberg]]. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1998. 53-87.</ref>
*[[Hasbro]] used the tune for its [[G.I. Joe]] toyline during the 1960s with the words "G.I. Joe...G.I. Joe...fighting man from head to toe...on the land...on the sea...in the air."
*In the 1960s, the [[Hoover Company]] used this tune for the promotion of their "Hoover Junior" vacuum cleaner with the lyrics "All the fluff, dust and grit. Hoover gets at every bit. For it beats as it sweeps as it cleans".
*In 1962, the song was parodied in ''[[The Jetsons]]'' Season 1, Episode 6, "The Good Little Scouts."<ref>
[https://archive.today/20120720141331/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/4610-Good_Little_Scouts.html Big Cartoon Database]</ref> It was the marching song of Elroy Jetson's space troop.
*Also in 1962, the [[Mad Magazine]] did a version about the card game [[Contract bridge]].<ref>[http://www.bridgeguys.com/sec/poems/collection/AsTheBridgeTeamGoes.html words for Mad's Bridge team song.]</ref>
* In [[The Muppet Show]] episode ''[[Juliet Prowse]]'', when Kermit asks the Muppet Glee Club to sing something, the Glee Club all sing a bunch of different songs in unison, and one frog sings ''The Army Goes Rolling Along''.
*In 1979, the song was sung by [[List of M*A*S*H characters#Margaret Houlihan|Margaret Houlihan]] in ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'' [[List of M*A*S*H episodes (Season 7)|Season 7]], Episode 16 (titled "The Price") while she was in the shower. It is also partially sung in [[List of M*A*S*H episodes (Season 3)|Season 3]] Episode 19 (titled "Aid Station") by [[List of M*A*S*H characters#Margaret Houlihan|Margaret]], [[List of M*A*S*H characters#Hawkeye Pierce|Hawkeye Pierce]], and [[List of M*A*S*H characters#Maxwell Klinger|Max Klinger]] as they arrive back at their unit, ''[[Mobile Army Surgical Hospital|M*A*S*H]]'' 4077th. In [[M*A*S*H (season 6)|Season 6]] Episode 16, Margaret loses her wedding ring, which is inscribed with "Over hill, over dale, our love will '''never''' fail," inspired by the original lyrics to "The Caisson Song." Hawkeye and BJ get a tinker to inscribe an identical ring, but the inscription is humorously misspelled as "Over hill, over dale, our love will '''ever''' fail."
*The [[fight song]] of [[North Carolina State University]] is a sped-up version of the tune.<ref>[http://www.ncsu.edu/nso/old/traditions/athletics/fightsong.htm North Carolina State University.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208100219/http://www.ncsu.edu/nso/old/traditions/athletics/fightsong.htm |date=2011-12-08 }} Retrieved on February 7, 2012.</ref> (See [[NC State Wolfpack]].)
*The Australian A-League Club [[Adelaide United FC]] uses the tune for their club song "United Is Rolling Along."
*A version of the song is in the ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' Original Soundtrack, under the title "America Yahoutai March."
*The ''[[Barney & Friends]]'' version used "The Rocket Song," which can be found in ''[[Barney in Outer Space]]'' and other Barney episodes and videos.
* [[Tom Lehrer]] references the late 1940s-mid 1950s contest that eventually resulted in the adoption of the song in a spoken-word section on his 1959 album ''[[An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer]]''. Lehrer discusses the contest to introduce his song "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier", which satirizes the Army of the 1950s from the perspective of a young conscript by humorously suggesting he had submitted it for consideration as the Army song.
* This song is sung by [[Goofy]], [[Chip 'n' Dale]], Christian Buenaventura, Michelle Montoya, Toby Ganger, and [[Brandon Hammond]] in ''Mickey's Fun Songs: Campout at Walt Disney World''.
* The [[Kidsongs]] Kids sing this song in "A Day At Camp". In that same series, the song "The Circus is Coming to Town" is set to the song's tune.
* In [[Army Wives]] season 4, episode 9, [[Frank Sherwood]] and General [[Michael J. Holden]] sing to Sara Elizabeth Burton.

==See also==
*"[[Marines' Hymn]]"
*"[[The U.S. Air Force (song)|The U.S. Air Force]]"
*"[[Anchors Aweigh]]"
*"[[Semper Paratus (march)|Semper Paratus]]"
*"[[Semper Supra (march)|Semper Supra]]"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Collins, Ace (2003). ''Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs''. HarperResource.{{ISBN|0060513047}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|The Army Goes Rolling Along}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20200930232307/https://www.bands.army.mil/music/armysong/default.asp Lyrics and Sheet Music]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110720003039/https://rdl.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/6651-1/fm/12-50/toc.htm Army Field Manual 12-50, ''Army Bands'', 15 October 1999, Appendix A-9], sheet music
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101202090912/http://www.hqusareur.army.mil/band/music_downloads.html U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus] recordings
*[http://www.dws.org/sousa/works/marches/item/us-field-artillery?category_id=4 Dallas Wind Symphony] recording
*[http://memory.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000019/default.html Library of Congress] article
*[http://frontiers.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(edrs+50688r))+@field(COLLID+edison)) 1921 recording of "U.S. Field Artillery," at the Library of Congress]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Army Goes Rolling Along, The}}
[[Category:American military marches]]
[[Category:Songs about the military]]
[[Category:United States Army traditions]]
[[Category:American patriotic songs]]
[[Category:Year of song unknown]]
[[Category:Anthems of organizations]]
[[Category:Concert band pieces]]