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Explores the tremendous cultural impact of songs from the Revolutionary War to the 1980s.

“Yankee Doodle,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Oh Susanna/Beautiful Dreamer,”

“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Home on the Range,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “St. Louis Blues,” “Over There,” “Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane,” “Happy Days are Here Again,” “God Bless America,” “Rock Around the Clock,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “That’s All Right,” “The Times They Are a-Changin,” “We Shall Overcome,” “The Message/Noah,” “I Am Woman.”

Thomas Jefferson argued that a little rebellion every once in a while is a good thing. Americans have done just that throughout their history. No medium is more interesting, or has more impact, than music when it comes to channeling dissent.

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “The Bonnie Blue Flag/Dixie,” “Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground,” “I’m a Good Old Rebel,” “The Farmer is the Man,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “I Didn’t Raise My Son to Be a Soldier,” “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?” “Joe Hill,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “We Shall Overcome,” “I Ain’t Marching Anymore,” “What’s Going On?” “Fortunate Son,” “I Am Woman,” “9 to 5,” “Fightin Side of Me/Okie From Muskogee.” 

Covers the tremendous influence of forty pivotal songs from the Revolutionary War to the 1960s and explains how music shapes and reflects history.

“Yankee Doodle,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Oh Susanna/Beautiful Dreamer,”

“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Home on the Range,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “St. Louis Blues,” “Over There", “Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane”, “Happy Days are Here Again,” “God Bless America,” “Rock Around the Clock,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “That’s All Right,” “The Times They Are a-Changin,” “We Shall Overcome,” “The Message/Noah,” “I Am Woman”

Examines the early British Island influence, Stephen Foster and minstrelsy, the Civil War, sentimental songs from Tin Pan Alley in the late 1800s that became country hits, the substantial contributions of African-Americans to the genre, ragtime string bands in the early 1900s, histories of pivotal instruments (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo, dobro), influence of the blues, early recordings of the 1920s, brother duets and western swing bands of the 1930s, bluegrass, honky tonk, the Nashville sound of the 1960s and the influence of the genre on pop and rock from the 1970s on.

“Wreck of the Old 97,” “Casey Jones,” “ Working on the Railroad,” “Pan American,” “Wabash Cannonball,” “ City of New Orleans,” “John Henry,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “The Gambler,” “Riding the Midnight Train,” “Hey Porter,” “Stop That Train,” “Midnight Special,” The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Mystery Train,” “Nine Pound Hammer,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Coming Round the Mountain,” “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome,” “Petticoat Junction,” “Blow Your Whistle Freight Train.”

“White Christmas,” “Jingle Bells,” “Silent Night,” “Merry Little Christmas,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “ Run, Run Rudolph,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Blue Christmas,” “Santa Clause is Coming to Town,” “Feliz Navidad,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Deck the Halls,” “O Holy Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Come All Ye Faithful,” “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

Almost all Americans know these songs, which represent a remarkable record of resilience. Includes “We Gather Together,” “Auld Lang Syne,” “Amazing Grace,” “Greensleeves,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” music of the Revolutionary War and the song that serves as the Vice President’s ceremonial march, “Hail, Columbia.”

Surveys a century that produced many songs still recognizable to this day, thanks in part to cartoons and Broadway productions. Songs include: “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” “Man on the Flying Trapeze,” “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” “Oh, Susanna,” “America the Beautiful,” “Bicycle Built for Two,” “Skip to My Lou,” “Darling Clementine,” “Home on the Range,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

“The Star-Spangled Banner” is the most controversial song in U. S. history, exemplified by the battle over taking a knee in the National Football League. How did the anthem become an integral part of the sports landscape and why does it endure?

The first documented performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a baseball game occurred in 1862. How did the anthem become entwined with sports and why has baseball largely avoided the controversy that has roiled the National Football League?

Every country has a national anthem and other songs that arouse passion, but there is no parallel to the breadth of American patriotic music from the French and Indian War (1756-1763) to the present. Covers the circumstances that gave rise to the nation’s most beloved patriotic songs.

Perfect for Earth Day. “Coming Round the Mountain,” “Red River Valley,” “Home on the Range,” “Swanee River,” Rolling Down to Old Maui,” “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” “America the Beautiful” (with George Carlin parody lyrics), “God Bless America,” “Dust Bowl,” “Roll On, Columbia Roll On,” “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You.”