The Liberty Song

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The Liberty Song is an American song from before the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The patriot John Dickinson published the lyrics in the Boston Gazette in 1768 . The melody comes from the British Royal Navy hymn Heart of Oak (1759, melody William Boyce , lyrics by David Garrick ). The Liberty Song is considered America's first patriotic song.

Dickson wrote the verse to protest the taxes of the Townshend Act that resulted in the Boston massacre .

The refrain is noteworthy as it shows that the American colonists were willing to pay taxes as long as they felt represented .

In freedom we're born and in freedom we'll live
Our purses are ready. Steady, boys, steady
Not as slaves, but as freemen our money we'll give

In the same year there was a gross parody of the song ( Come shake your dull noddles, ye pumpkins, and bawl ). The parody was parodied in November 1768 in the St. James Chronicle , London, again as the Massachusetts Liberty Song or The Parody Parodised ( Come swallow your bumpers, ye tories, and roar ).

The song should not be confused with the American song from the time of the Revolutionary War Free America (1770), or originally (The New Massachusetts) Liberty Song , also A Song on Liberty , by Joseph Warren , see The British Grenadiers .

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