America's oldest song was written by a signer of the Declaration of Independence
A song is defined as a musical composition that features the human voice as the primary (or a central) element, typically carrying a melody and often accompanied by lyrics (words that are sung).
America's oldest song is "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free." America Music Preservation defines it as the first American song. Johns Hopkins University describes it as the first American song. New World Records acknowledges it as the first American song.
Francis Hopkinson (1737–1791) composed it in just two parts — the treble and bass — leaving the harmonic details to be filled in by the accompanist. The song has a charming, graceful melody, often punctuated by a repeated passing-note, resulting in a somewhat syncopated effect. The opening lyrics paint a picture of carefree pastoral bliss: "My days have been so wondrous free, the little birds that fly with careless ease from tree to tree were but as blest as I."
The words were actually written as a poem by the Irishman Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), who never set foot on American soil. An early printing is held by the British Library, wherein it is entitled "Love and Innocence: A New Song." Hopkinson set the original poem to music in 1759, but it was not published until 1788, in a collection of songs dedicated to George Washington, who was a personal friend.
Francis Hopkinson was a young graduate of the College of Philadelphia when he wrote the song. He later became a leading figure in Philadelphia music as well as a prominent patriot, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and federal judge. He has been called "America's first poet-composer."
He designed Continental paper money and two early versions of flags — one for the United States and one for the United States Navy. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 as a delegate from New Jersey, and became the first federal judge of the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania on September 30, 1789.
Hopkinson appears to have begun his formal musical training, in the form of harpsichord lessons, at age seventeen. While he never became a virtuoso harpsichord player, he was a gifted amateur and gained quite a reputation among Philadelphia social circles. He was also active in sacred music — he taught psalmody, compiled tune books for congregational singing, and substituted for his teacher as organist in Philadelphia's Christ Church in 1770.
The song existed in manuscript form in a 1759–60 music book in which Hopkinson copied popular and classical pieces of the day and also recorded some compositions of his own. This document, marred with brownish spotting that preservationists refer to as "foxing," is an original manuscript. Although the title and lyrics are faded, the notation is still legible.
The song is contained in a collection of Hopkinson's manuscripts, dated 1759–60, and is now housed in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. The song was not published in Hopkinson's lifetime, nor is there any evidence it was performed publicly. It may have been, but more likely it was played in the drawing rooms of the elite circle of Philadelphians to which Hopkinson belonged.
In the dedication to his Seven Songs (1788), Hopkinson boldly declared: "I cannot, I believe, be refused the Credit of being the first Native of the United States who has produced a Musical Composition."
Hopkinson's earliest work appears to be an "Ode to Music" (1754), followed by "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free" (1759). Nearly three decades later, his Seven Songs was published in Philadelphia and dedicated to George Washington.
He also wrote an "Ode in Memory of James Bremner" (1780) and provided both the text and the musical arrangement for the oratorical entertainment America Independent, or The Temple of Minerva (1781) — leading some scholars to consider him either the first American cantata composer or the first American opera composer.
Though it wasn't a widely popular song when it was first published in 1788, the graceful, uplifting tune is now remembered due to its powerful legacy as the foundational document of American musical history — a 22-year-old's drawing room composition that became the starting point of an entire nation's musical story.