Sheet music for the chorus to
Hail to the Chief
"Hail to the Chief" is the official anthem of the President of the
United States. The song accompanies the President at almost every public appearance. The U.S. Department of Defense made "Hail to the Chief" the official music to announce
the President of the United States in 1954. The song is preceded by four ruffles and
flourishes when played for the President.
History
Verses from Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the
Lake, including "Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!" were set to music circa 1810 by the songwriter
James Sanderson (1769-1841), a self-taught English violinist and the conductor of the Surrey Theatre, London, who wrote many
songs for local theatrical productions during the 1790s and the early years of the nineteenth century:
- Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er,
- Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
- Dream of battled fields no more,
- Days of danger, nights of waking.
-
-
- (The Lady of the Lake, 1810)
Scott's romance was quickly made into unauthorized romantic melodramas. In November 1810, Scott wrote to a friend that "The
Lady of the Lake" was being made into a play by Martin and Reynolds in London and by a Mr. Siddons in Edinburgh. About the same
time Scott received a letter from a friend and army officer who ended his note with a copy of the music of the Boat Song, "Hail
to the Chief."
A version of Lady of the Lake debuted in New York May 8, 1812, and "Hail to the Chief" was published in Philadelphia about the same time, as 'March and Chorus in the Dramatic Romance of the Lady
of the Lake'. Many parodies appeared, a sure sign of universal popularity.
On July 4, 1828, the Marine Band performed the song at a
ceremony for the formal opening of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which was attended by President John Quincy Adams. The song was first played to announce the arrival of the president at
James K. Polk's inauguration on March 4, 1845. It was Julia Tyler, wife of Polk's predecessor,
John Tyler, who suggested that the song be played when a president made an appearance.
Lyrics
Lyrics by Albert Gamse are set to the tune, but are rarely sung:
- Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
- Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
- Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
- In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
- Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
- This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.
- Hail to the one we selected as commander,
- Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!
Cultural references
- Based on the popular anthem, the expression "Hail to the Chief" is occasionally used in American culture as a friendly or
not-so-friendly mocking of authority figures. In a similar satirical vein, two video productions have used this phrase as their
titles.
- Hail (1971), also known as Hail to the Chief, was a dark comedy starring
Richard B. Shull as a presidential advisor who discovers his Chief's assembling of a
private army to put down domestic unrest.
- Hail to the Chief (1985) was a short-lived television comedy
from the creators of Soap, with Patty Duke
as the first female U.S. president.
- In the movie My Fellow Americans (1996) former presidents Russell P.
Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and Matt Douglas (James Garner)
had each made up their own lyrics to "Hail to the Chief". Kramer's version was "Hail to the Chief, he's the chief and he needs
hailing / He is the chief so you all had better hail like crazy." Douglas's version was more sinister: "Hail to the Chief, if you
don't I'll have to kill you / I am the chief, so you'd better watch your step, you bastards."
- The movie M*A*S*H (1970) also featured a version of "Hail to the Chief" beginning, "Hail to the Chief / He's the best of all
the surgeons."
- The TV version of M*A*S*H featured an episode covering a similar circumstance that expanded on this with, "Hail to the Chief
/ He's the King of all the surgeons / He needs a Queen / To satisfy his urgin's".
- The film Dave included a version of the song sung by the main character while in
the shower, including the lines "Hail to the Chief/He's the one they all say hail to./They all say Hail/'Cause he keeps himself
so clean./He's got the power/That's why he's in the shower."
- In Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of
Champions (1973), his character Kilgore Trout has written a short story about "an optimistic chimpanzee who became
President of the United States." "Everywhere he went, bands would play 'Hail to the Chief'. The chimpanzee loved it. He would
bounce up and down."
- In The Simpsons, Homer watches the movie Hail to the Chimp with a similar plot.
When his policies are questioned, the chimp becomes frenzied and starts pummeling and screaming; seeing this, Homer jovially
exclaims, "That's what you get for not hailing to the chimp!". In the episode "Deep Space Homer," he is seen wearing an apron
with "Hail To The Chef" written on it.
- The children's television series Arthur plays "Hail to the Chief" every
time there is an imaginary sequence of a character, usually D.W., as the president in the future.
- During the Watergate years, protesters commonly sung this song as "Jail to the
Thief".
- In the musical Assassins by Stephen
Sondheim, Hail to the Chief is played throughout the score in the style of a carnival merry-go-round.
- "Hail to the Chief" was, according to the book A Record Of Employment, the original working title for the
Kaiser Chiefs song "Caroline, Yes", featured on their debut album Employment.
- There is a remix used in Chevrolet commercial for President's Day 2007
- The band Big D and the Kids table has a song titled President, which has Hail to the Chief as
background music.
- A documentary on the History Channel featured an interview with a former WWII German U-boat commander, who mentioned that
whenever he returned from patrolling the Atlantic, his boat would be greeted by a band at dockside who would always play the same
song. He wouldn't find out til after the war that the song they played was "Hail to the Chief".
- In the movie First Daughter (2004) there is a comedic version of
"Hail to the Chief" including a rap and dance sequence.
External links
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