"The Army Goes Rolling Along" is the official song of the
United States Army[1] and is typically called "The Army Song". It is adapted from an earlier work titled the "
U.S. Field Artillery March".
History
The original version of this song, written in 1908 by
Edmund Gruber, was titled "The
Caissons Go Rolling Along." Those lyrics differ from the current official version.[2] Gruber's version was transformed into a march by
John Philip Sousa in 1917 and renamed the "
U.S. Field Artillery March."
The
United States Navy,
Marine Corps,
Air Force, and
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.[3] In 1952,
Secretary of the ArmyFrank Pace asked the music industry to submit songs; he received more than 800 entries. "The Army's Always There" by
Sam H. Stept won,[4] and an
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.[5] Secretary of the Army
Wilber Marion Brucker dedicated the music on
Veterans Day, November 11, 1956.[6] 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.[7]
Lyrics
The following lyrics are to "The Army Goes Rolling Along." This is the official version, dating to 1956. As of May 8, 2013, only the first verse, the chorus, and refrain are sung.[8]
Verse:
March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free
Count the brave, count the true, who have fought to victory
The tune was used in 44 movies or television series from 1934 to 2011.[9]
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."[10]
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".
The toy company again used it for their Army Ant toys in the 80s.
In 1962, the song was parodied in The Jetsons Season 1, Episode 6, "The Good Little Scouts."[11] It was the marching song of Elroy Jetson's space troop.
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
Margaret Houlihan in M*A*S*HSeason 7, Episode 16 (titled "The Price") while she was in the shower. It is also partially sung in
Season 3 Episode 19 (titled "Aid Station") by
Margaret,
Hawkeye Pierce, and
Max Klinger as they arrive back at their unit, M*A*S*H 4077th. In
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."
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 and General Holland sing to Sara Elizabeth Burton.