06:20 PM CDT on Friday, June 30, 2006

By MATT WIXON / Staff Writer

Ladies and gentlemen, start your patriotic engines. And by that, I mean get out your American flags, patriotic shirts and mosquito repellent, because tomorrow is Independence Day.

Yes, another Fourth of July — the annual day when U.S. citizens head to parks, throw down blankets and celebrate things truly American such as freedom, determination and the right to pay four bucks for one of those glow-in-the-dark tube things that you can wear as a headband.

That's part of what makes America great. And that's why, before the fireworks begin, we will proudly stand up and sing patriotic songs such as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." And then by the second verse, we'll not-so-proudly sit back down when we realize we're more fluent in P. Diddy than in the Rev. Samuel F. Smith.

Wait a second. The Rev. Samuel F. Smith? Who is he?

Well, you must not have seen the Jeopardy! episode with the category "Patriotic Potpourri." But take your best guess:

A. The Rev. Samuel F. Smith was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence and composed the song, "You're a Grand Old Flag."

B. The Rev. Samuel F. Smith, also known as the Minister of Rap, was an 18th-century hip-hop artist who rallied revolutionaries with his hit single, "Taxation Without Representation is Funkadentally Whack."

C. The Rev. Samuel F. Smith wrote the words to "America," perhaps the most patriotic song ever to include the commonly used phrase, "'tis of thee."

The answer, of course, is that Rev. Smith wrote the lyrics to "America." I know this because, 25 years ago, a teacher in elementary school taught me that lesson. And also because last week, 25 years after I got nothing from that lesson because I was making paper footballs and drawing pictures on my desk, I found the information on the Internet.

I also found the lyrics. Here's the first verse, which most of us know:

My country, 'tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let Freedom ring.

Now on to the second verse. Everybody sing!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

OK, I heard a lot of humming out there. I guess that's because most of us know a lot more about rock 'n roll than "rocks and rills." But let's try another patriotic favorite, "America the Beautiful." It starts with "O beautiful for spacious skies" and then ends with "from sea to shining sea!"

It ends there for most of us, anyway. But there is a second verse:

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress,
A thoroughfare of freedom beat,
Across the wilderness!

Well, at least I can say that I knew there was something about "pilgrim feet" in there. Maybe I remember that from the last Independence Day celebration, or perhaps I have at least one remnant memory from history class at Horizon Elementary School (home of the fightin' Panthers and disappointing test scores).

But so what if you don't know all the words to America's patriotic anthems. And so what if you think that pieces of an animal are the "ramparts" we watched gallantly streaming in "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Memorization isn't required for patriotism. And neither is an intricate knowledge of history, which is a good thing because surveys show that many Americans don't even know what country we were declaring our independence from back in 1776. But if you don't know the exact date when George Washington crossed the Delaware to defeat the Nazis with a nuclear bomb, that doesn't make you any less of an American.

All we need to know is that this is the greatest country in the world. And that we have unparalleled freedoms, incredible opportunities and the right to the credit we deserve — and in some cases, no payments until 2008.

So on this Independence Day, stand tall, Americans. Watch the fireworks, and if some patriotic crooning breaks out, proudly sing the words you know. After that, just kind of hum and move your lips like a pre-nose-job Ashlee Simpson or the late, great members of Milli Vanilli.

You'll still make Yankee Doodle proud.

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Every Monday, Dallas Morning News columnist Matt Wixon brings the funny to Break Room.   E-mail Matt Wixon