Given the interest in the lyrics to Stars and Stripes Forever, expressed in the comments on my Independence Day post, here is an a cappella version by the Acoustix:
A few other non-standard arrangements follow the jump, and there is a vocal with more distinct lyrics at the bottom of the post (h/t Alex Lubet).
Harmony is less intricate but lyrics are more distinct:
If you ever find a video version with Sheldon Harnick's lyrics to the Sousa melody (The Man with the Sign), please post it. My search has been fruitless. I think the lyrics start:
In a town today, not far away,
A shabby little man is marching proudly
Round about and quite without
The music of a marching band.
No drum provides the rhythm for his left—
(not a piccolo)
—Right—
(not a clarinet)
Not a single Sousaphone in sight
Yet he marches on.
But as he goes around he shows
A shabby little home-made sign that tells me
Here's a man who favors
An unpalatable point of view.
It seems to me he's absolutely WRONG!
(his opinion is)
WRONG!
(my opinion is)
He and I could never get along
In a million years.
BUT the man with the sign's a friend of mine
All alone in his proud endeavor
And as long as I fight for this man's right
That's the glory of the stars and stripes forever.
I think it goes on for a few more verses. A paean to free speech.