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Fifes and Drums/War Song of America

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1158287Fifes and Drums — War Song of AmericaGrantland Rice

WAR SONG OF AMERICA

We are on our way back Home—
    Home where the high flag flies;
We are on our way from the rut
    With the flag lust in our eyes;
So those of you in the van,
    Hark to our warning song—
"Give us the open road
    Till we land where we belong."

Soft we had grown and fat—
    Watching the Shadow creep;
Soft with the dull content
    Of those who are half asleep;
But the Eagle's place is the peak,
    And now, by her lands and seas,
Flung to the world-wide winds
    Old Glory goes to the breeze.

We are on our way back Home—
    By the trail we have come before;
By the trail that leads from the depths
    Through the swirl of the Winning Score;
So those of you in the way
    Hark to the chant we've spun—
"Give us the open road
    Till we find our place in the sun."

Grantland Rice.