Today is the day of red, white and blue. It’s Independence Day in the United States. Independence Day is a holiday to commemorate when the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It declared that the thirteen American colonies were now a new nation called the United States of America and it wouldn’t be a part of the British Empire anymore.
19 Fun 4th Of July Traditions & Customs
There are so many fun things that our country traditionally participates in during the July 4th holiday as we celebrate our patriotism. Such things as:
- Hang the flag
- Parades
- Festivals
- Fairs
- Carnivals
- Private fireworks such as sparklers
- Grilling
- Barbeques
- Make and eat ice cream
- Apple pie
- Watermelon
- Cold beverages such as lemonade, tea and alcohol
- Picnics
- Family reunions
- Neighborhood parties
- Eating contests
- Baseball games
- Watch public fireworks
- Singing patriotic songs
4th Of July Patriotic Songs
Many songs give us a way to express our patriotism and celebrate the United States of America.
- The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States of America and the lyrics are:
Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
- Yankee Doodle
- God Bless America with the following lyrics:
God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.
God bless America,
My home sweet home.
- This Land Is Your Land
- My Country ‘Tis of Thee also known as America with the following lyrics:
My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From ev’ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.Our joyful hearts today,
Their grateful tribute pay,
Happy and free,
After our toils and fears,
After our blood and tears,
Strong with our hundred years,
O God, to Thee.We love thine inland seas,
Thy groves and giant trees,
Thy rolling plains;
Thy rivers’ mighty sweep,
Thy mystic canyons deep,
Thy mountains wild and steep,–
All thy domains.Thy silver Eastern strands,
Thy Golden Gate that stands
Fronting the West;
Thy flowery Southland fair,
Thy North’s sweet, crystal air:
O Land beyond compare,
We love thee best!
- America the Beautiful
- Battle Hymn of the Republic or Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory and the lyrics are as follows:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching onGlory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
His truth is marching onHe has sounded for the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat
Oh, be swift, my soul to answer Him, be jubilant, my feet
Our God is marching onGlory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
His truth is marching onIn the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me
As He died to make men holy let us die to make men free
While God is marching onGlory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
His truth is marching onGlory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
Glory, glory, Hallelujah
His truth is marching onAmen
- Home on the Range also known as the unofficial anthem of the west and one of my favorites. The lyrics are:
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.Chorus
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all of the cities so bright.Chorus
The red man was pressed from this part of the West
He’s likely no more to return,
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering camp-fires burn.Chorus
How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours.Chorus
Oh, I love these wild prairies where I roam
The curlew I love to hear scream,
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks
That graze on the mountain-tops green.Chorus
Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.Chorus
- The Stars and Stripes Forever
- You’re a Grand Old Flag
- Dixie also known as I Wish I Was in Dixie and Dixie’s Land
Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten.
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!In Dixie’s Land, where I was born in,
early on one frosty mornin’.
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie’s Land I’ll take my stand,
to live and die in Dixie.
Away, away, away down south in Dixie!
Away, away, away down south in Dixie!There’s buckwheat cakes and Injun batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie LandThen hoe it down and scratch your gravel,
To Dixie’s Land I’m bound to travel.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie LandI wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie’s Land I’ll take my stand,
to live and die in Dixie.
Away, away, away down south in Dixie!
Away, away, away down south in Dixie!
As the last song just said, with the abundance of food on July 4th that “Makes you fat or a little fatter,” I’m sure there be many people taking a nap today after all the festivities.
Happy Birthday America!
When I was a kid I used to sing “Home on the Range” but I only sang the first verse and chorus. I didn’t know there were any more verses to the song. So imagine my surprise, all these years later, to finally read the other verses to the song – and to find out that it is one of your favorite songs. (I always knew we had something in common!) 🙂
Cool!