The Liberty Song And Heart Of Oak Analysis

For the Love of Liberty

‘The Liberty Song’ and ‘Heart of Oak’
‘The Liberty Song’ and ‘Heart of Oak’ form another famous pair of closely related songs from the Western and Eastern banks of the pond respectively.
The original British, ‘Heart of Oak’, was composed by Dr. William Boyce (1711-1779), a celebrated English organist, once-‘Master of the King’s Music’, curator of chapel music and teacher of Thomas Linley. Boyce was a prominent cathedral and court musician in the British Court, having been appointed composer to the King in 1736. As music historian John Hawkins’s 1788 memoir of Boyce suggests, the composer was prolific as regards anthems and hymns:
“The duty of this office is to compose anthems for the service of the royal chapel… Boyce's

The words, an attempt at boosting the navy’s morale and prodding it to greater glories, are apt and fitting given the distinctively merry sound of the air. The first verse very directly urges the sailors to cheer up, highlighting the their own, free-willed love for the limitless seas that Britain sought to rule, and reminding them that they ought to be confident of ‘glory’ by referencing a ‘wonderful year’ (1759-1760), a veritable “Annus mirabillis” for British forces at sea and on the battleground. The extended victorious streak during the period served to strengthen the song’s popularity:
V1: Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,
To add something more to this wonderful year;
To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves,
For who are so free as the sons of the waves?
The phrase, ‘heart of oak’ has appeared in English translations of the great Greek Classic, the Aeneid, and apart from signifying the strength and sturdiness of the British naval fleets, perhaps also hints at the valiance of their jolly ‘tars’ (sailors). The lyrics are jaunty, and almost outrageously confident in the final two lines of the chorus:
Chorus: Heart of Oak are our ships,
Jolly Tars are our men,
We always are ready: Steady, boys, Steady!
We'll fight and we'll conquer again and

The chorus is pithy, and possesses a clever effectiveness. The first line simultaneously introduces the concept of being born free in an almost Locke-esque sense, and asserts the Revolutionaries’ desire for it. The second line notably employs the repetitive ‘steady’ phrase used in the chorus of ‘Heart of Oak’, and coupled with the third, it broaches one of the key complaints of the Colonies against the Crown: unfair taxes on forcibly imported goods from Britain. The song excellently represents the heart of the matter: economic freedom (or the lack thereof), which evolved into a broader call for socio-political freedom.
Chorus: In Freedom we're born and in Freedom we'll live.
Our purses are ready. Steady, friends, steady;
Not as slaves, but as Freemen our money we'll give.
The second verse draws attention to the trials and purpose (freedom) of the early Colonizers’ voyage across the Atlantic and the discovery of the American continent.
V2: Our worthy forefathers, let's give them a cheer,
To climates unknown did courageously steer;
Thro' oceans to deserts for Freedom they came,
And dying, bequeathed us their freedom and