L. Z. Phillips (c. 1892/1894-c. 1971) was an American composer and music arranger who is sometimes attributed with either the words or the music, or even both, of the “Marines’ Hymn.” Little is known about him. His birth date is estimated to be around 1892 to 1894. One website says that “All that can presently be gleaned by internet searching is that L.Z. Phillips is the composer of Craps (1908) published by J. Goldsmith & Sons, Memphis, Tennessee.” Other pieces of sheet music credited to him include “Only One Face in Dreamland Song” (1909), “All I Want In This World Is You” (1912), and “Dear Old Flag: The 100% American Marching Song” (1928). Some of his music was used in Interrupted Melody, a 1955 biographical musical film in CinemaScope and Technicolor about Australian opera singer Marjorie Lawrence’s struggle with polio, which was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Curtis Bernhardt, and produced by Jack Cummings from a screenplay by Marjorie Lawrence, Sonya Levien, and William Ludwig. Phillips died in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, of kidney failure, perhaps around 1971.
The “Marines’ Hymn” is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps, introduced by the first Director of USMC Band, Francesco Maria Scala. It is the oldest official song in the United States Armed Forces. Some of the lyrics were popular phrases before the song was written. The line “To the shores of Tripoli” refers to the First Barbary War, and specifically the Battle of Derne in 1805. After Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon and his Marines hoisted the American flag over the Old World for the first time, the phrase was added to the flag of the United States Marine Corps. “The Halls of Montezuma” refers to the Battle of Chapultepec on September 12/13, 1847, during the Mexican-American War, where a force of Marines stormed Chapultepec Castle. While the lyrics are said to date from the 19th century, no pre-20th century text is known. The author of the lyrics is unknown. Legend has it that a Marine on duty in Mexico penned the hymn. The unknown author transposed the phrases in the motto on the Colors so that the first two lines of the Hymn would read: “From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli”, favoring euphony over chronology. The lyrics are contained in the book Rhymes of the Rookies published in 1917. The author of these poems was W.E. Christian. The book consists of a series of poems regarding military life prior to World War I.
The music is from the Gendarmes’ Duet (the “bold gendarmes”) from the revision in 1867 of the Jacques Offenbach comic opera Geneviève de Brabant, which debuted in Paris in 1859. Correspondence between Colonel Albert S. McLemore and Walter F. Smith (the second leader of the United States Marine Band) traces the tune. Major Richard Wallach, USMC, said that in 1878, when he was in Paris, France, the aria to which the Marines’ Hymn is now sung was a very popular one. The melody is not in the exact form of the Marines’ Hymn, but is undoubtedly the aria from which it was taken. One of the members of the band, who had a Spanish wife, said that the aria was one familiar to her childhood and it may, therefore, be a Spanish folk song.
Some websites, including the official U.S.M.C. website, claim that the U.S. Marine Corps secured a copyright on the song either August 19, 1891, or August 18, 1919. However, U.S. Copyright Law prohibits the U.S. Federal government, including subordinate agencies, from holding domestic copyrights, and as such, the song falls into the public domain. However, several composers do hold copyrights on different arrangements of the song. These copyrights cover only the specific arrangements and not the song as a whole. At one time, a piece of sheet music entitled “The Marines Hymn (after themes by Offenbach) was published identifying L.Z. Phillips as the “Composer.” Perhaps he is the one who adapted Offenbach’s melody for the Marines’ Hymn text. The “Marines’ Hymn” is typically sung at the position of attention as a gesture of respect. However, the third verse is also used as a toast during formal events, such as the birthday ball and other ceremonies. Western Illinois University uses the hymn prior to all football games. They are the only non-military academy allowed to use the hymn. The university has had permission to use the official nickname, mascot, and hymn of the Corps since 1927.
In 1929, the Commandant of the Marine Corps authorized the three verses of the Marines’ Hymn as the official version, but changed the fifth through eighth lines:
- From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.
(Pre-1929 version
Admiration of the nation,
we’re the finest ever seen;
And we glory in the title
Of United States Marines.)
- Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.
- Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
This older version can be heard in the 1950 film Halls of Montezuma. On November 21, 1942, Commandant Thomas Holcomb approved a change in the words of the first verse’s fourth line from “On the land as on the sea” to “In the air, on land, and sea” to reflect the addition of aviation to the Corps’ arsenal.
My collection includes the following work attributed to L. Z. Phillips:
The Marines Hymn (after Jacques Offenbach).
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