http://www.native-tongue.com/nacirema/jcash3.mp3

That Ragged Old Flag



I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench an old man was sittin' there
I said, your old court house is kinda run down
He said, naw, it'll do for our little town
I said, your old flag pole is leaned a little bit
And that�s a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it
He said, have a seat and I sat down
Is this the first time you've been to our little town?
I said, I think it is, he said I don�t like to brag
But we�re kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag

You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware
It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing O Say Can You See
It got a rip in it in New Orleans
With Packingham & Jackson tugging at its seams
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag but she waved on though
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag

On Flanders Field in World War One
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low, a time or two
She was in Korea and Vietnam
She went where she was sent by her Uncle Sam
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home
In her own good land here she�s been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied and refused
And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout out the land
And she�s getting thread bare, and she�s wearing thin
But she�s in good shape, for the shape she�s in
Cause she�s been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more

So we raise her up every morning and take her down every night
We don�t let her touch the ground and we fold her up right
On second thought I do like to brag
Cause I�m mighty proud of that Ragged Old Flag

Mp3 - That Ragged Old Flag - Johnny Cash (1974)

Last edited by Jim_B; 04/18/03.