I walked through a county courthouse
square, On a park bench an old
man was sitting there. I said,
"Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little
town." I said, "Your old
flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging 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. And it got
powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing Say Can You
See. And it got a bad rip in New
Orleans With Packingham and
Jackson tuggin' at its seems.
"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, Beauregard, and
Bragg, And the south wind blew
hard on that Ragged Old Flag.
"On Flanders Field in World War
I She got a big hole from a
Bertha gun. She turned blood red
in World War II. She hung limp
and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She was sent where she was 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 the land. And she's
getting threadbare and 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, 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 the Ragged Old
Flag." Ragged
Old Flag
"John R.
Cash"
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