Song of the Day 5/31: “Taps”

The 24 notes of this bugle call might be America’s most recognizable tune. Veterans are most familiar with it from its daily sounding at 2100 hours, or lights out — its original use when a Union Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield adapted it for his brigade in 1862 from an earlier bugle call known as “Scott’s Tattoo,” named for famed Gen. Winfield Scott. The last several measures, beginning at 0:59, will sound very familiar.

Within nine months of its first use, “Taps” — thought to be named for the three slow drum taps that follow the final bugle note in its use for lights out — was in widespread use by both the Union and Confederate armies. Its first use at a military funeral came later the same year, when it was substituted for the traditional seven-rifle volley because of the proximity of the enemy. It’s played at funerals and memorials at military cemeteries, like the one in Normandy on a bluff above Omaha Beach where 9,387 Americans are buried. Its 173 acres are considered American soil.

U.S. service regulations call for a single bugler, but military schools often play an arrangement for two bugles, known as “Echo Taps.”

Perhaps the single most famous performance of the bugle call is remembered for a missed note. Keith Clark, lead bugler of the U.S. Army Band, was called on to play at President John F. Kennedy’s funeral. After standing in the cold for three hours and standing right next to the rifle volley that preceded his performance, Clark muffed the sixth note. Many thought it was done on purpose, and interpreted as a sign of the nation’s grief.

The song does not officially have lyrics, but several different lyrics were written to accompany it. The most famous is known as “Day Is Done.” Here it’s sung by R&B singer Mel Carter.