It’s 1938. The air in Washington is crisp. Corinne Griffith, a former silent film star and the wife of team owner George Preston Marshall, is scribbling lines on a notepad. She isn’t writing a screenplay; she’s writing a battle cry. Those lines became the words to Hail to the Redskins, a fight song that would echo through RFK Stadium for decades, defining a franchise's identity before becoming a flashpoint for a massive cultural reckoning.
Funny how things change.
If you grew up in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area, those lyrics weren't just a song. They were a ritual. You learned them at the same time you learned to tie your shoes. But then, the music stopped. In 2020, following years of mounting pressure and a summer of intense social upheaval, the team dropped the name and the song. Now, the Commanders play to a different beat, but the history of those original verses remains a fascinating, albeit controversial, piece of American sports lore.
The Original 1938 Lyrics and the Griffith Legacy
Most fans today remember the "sanitized" version of the song, but the 1938 original was a whole different beast. Corinne Griffith wanted something punchy. She wanted something that sounded like a war march.
The original words to Hail to the Redskins included lines that would make modern PR departments faint. We’re talking about phrases like "Sons of Wash-ing-ton," which stayed, but also much more aggressive, stereotypical imagery that was common in the 1930s. Barnee Breeskin, the team's band director, composed the music, but Griffith’s lyrics gave it the soul—or at least, the soul as they saw it back then.
Initially, the song was a way to compete with the college atmosphere of the era. Marshall was a showman. He didn't just want a football game; he wanted a spectacle. He wanted a marching band. He wanted a fight song that could rival "Hail to the Victors" or "On, Wisconsin!"
Why the Lyrics Shifted Over Time
By the 1960s, the world was shifting. The team was the last in the NFL to integrate, forced into it only when the Kennedy administration threatened to revoke their lease on the federally owned D.C. Stadium (later RFK).
As the roster changed, the song had to change too. The most offensive stereotypical references were scrubbed. The version most Gen X and Millennial fans remember is the one that goes:
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
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It was short. It was loud. It was effective. Honestly, it’s arguably the most recognizable fight song in NFL history, mostly because it actually had a melody you could sing along to while holding a beer and a hot dog in a crowded stadium.
The Fight for the Fight Song: A Legal and Cultural Tug-of-War
You can't talk about the words to Hail to the Redskins without talking about the legal drama. This wasn't just about hurt feelings; it was about trademarks.
For years, Native American activists like Suzan Shown Harjo led the charge to strip the team of its trademark protections. They argued the name was a slur and therefore shouldn't be protected by federal law. The song was the primary vehicle for that name. Every time the band struck up those opening chords, the controversy flared anew.
Some fans argued it was about "honor." They truly felt the song was a tribute. But for many others, hearing "Braves on the Warpath" was a painful reminder of a history of caricature. It's a complicated mess. People get really defensive about their childhood memories. I get it. But history doesn't care about our nostalgia.
The 2020 Pivot
When the team finally retired the name in 2020, the song effectively died with it. You can't sing "Hail to the Redskins" when the team is the "Washington Football Team" or the "Commanders." The meter doesn't work. "Hail to the Commanders" has too many syllables. It's clunky.
The team tried to introduce a new version. They kept the Breeskin melody—because, let’s be real, the tune is catchy—but they swapped in new lyrics.
Hail to the Commanders!
Hail Victory!
Commanders on the Warpath? No.
Fight for old D.C.!
It felt like a cover band trying to play a classic. It didn't have the same bite.
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What the Lyrics Represented for the Fanbase
For fifty years, those lyrics were the heartbeat of D.C. sports. Think about the Joe Gibbs era. Think about the Hogs. When John Riggins was churning through the line, that song was the soundtrack.
It wasn't just a song for the elite in the skyboxes. It was for the people in the cheap seats who had been coming to games since the 50s. It was a connection between generations. A grandfather would teach the words to Hail to the Redskins to his grandson, and for a few hours on a Sunday, they were on the same page.
That’s why the loss of the song was, for many, harder than the loss of the name itself. The name was a word on a jersey. The song was an experience. It was 80,000 people shouting in unison. That kind of collective energy is hard to replace with a generic "Let's Go!" chant or a manufactured stadium anthem played over the PA system.
The Technical Breakdown: Music and Meter
Musically, the song is written in a standard 2/4 march time. It’s designed to be played by a brass band.
If you look at the structure, it’s incredibly simple.
- The Hook (Hail to the...)
- The Aspiration (Hail Victory)
- The Identity (Braves/Sons/Commanders)
- The Location (Fight for old D.C.)
Simple works. Simple sticks in the brain. Most fight songs fail because they try to be too poetic. Griffith, for all her faults, understood that people want to yell, not recite a sonnet.
The Controversy of the "Warpath"
The word "warpath" is where a lot of the modern friction lived. In the context of the 1930s, it was a pulp-novel trope. By the 2000s, it was seen as a reductionist view of indigenous cultures.
The team tried to keep the music while changing the lyrics, but the ghost of the old words always lingered. Even now, if you go to a Commanders game, you’ll hear a pocket of older fans in the upper deck quietly (or loudly) singing the original words. It’s a form of musical protest, a refusal to let go of the "old D.C." they remember.
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A Comparative Look at NFL Fight Songs
Let's be honest: Most NFL fight songs are terrible.
"Go! You Packers Go!" is fine, but it’s a bit repetitive. "Gridiron Heroes" (Detroit Lions) is okay, but it doesn't have the same "oomph." The words to Hail to the Redskins had a certain grandiosity to them. It felt presidential. It felt like it belonged in the nation’s capital.
When you compare it to the "Fly, Eagles Fly" anthem in Philadelphia, you see the difference in regional flavor. Philly's song is a scrappy, fast-paced chant. D.C.'s song was a formal march. It reflected the city's self-image—a place of power and history.
Moving Forward: The Future of the Washington Anthem
So, where do we go from here?
The Commanders are in a bit of an identity crisis. They have the "Hail to the Commanders" version, but it hasn't truly "taken" yet. Fans are still searching for that new ritual.
Maybe the answer isn't trying to rewrite the old song. Maybe the answer is something entirely new. But in sports, you can't force tradition. Tradition is grown, not manufactured in a marketing meeting.
If you're looking for the actual words to Hail to the Redskins for historical research or just out of a sense of nostalgia, it's important to remember that they are a snapshot of a specific time in American history. They represent both the joy of a storied franchise and the complicated, often uncomfortable, evolution of our cultural language.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you’re interested in the history of the team's branding or the evolution of sports music, here’s how to dive deeper:
- Check the Library of Congress: Since the team is based in D.C., there are extensive archives regarding George Preston Marshall’s ownership and the original compositions by Barnee Breeskin.
- Study the 1972 Revision: Look at how the lyrics were changed during the peak of the team’s popularity under George Allen. This reveals a lot about the social pressures of the early 70s.
- Listen to the Original Recording: Seek out the 1938 versions. The tempo and orchestration are significantly different from the "stadium rock" versions of the 80s and 90s.
- Respect the Context: Whether you love the song or think it was long overdue for retirement, understanding the "why" behind the lyrics helps bridge the gap between "tradition" and "progress."
The song may no longer ring out over the loudspeakers at Northwest Stadium, but the debate over those four simple lines—and what they meant to a city—will likely continue for as long as football is played in Washington.