I believe this list was created by the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Here is a link about it: http://www.blackroseacoustic.org/encore/great-songs.htm
Enjoy!
Mollie
Great Songs Every American Should Know by Howard Chasteen In 1996 the National Association for Music Education (MENC) introduced their list 43 Great Songs Every American Should Know. Many people complained that their favorite songs were left off the first list. Some complained so vocally that their selections were added! "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" joined the 1996 list after the MENC received thousands of letters and complaints from members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2000, they released a second list, 45 Great Songs.
Is your favorite song on either list? Are there songs that you think absolutely must be added? I was pleasantly surprised to see songs containing a message of faith were included in the lists. I personally believe that attempts to make schools politically correct and religiously neutral have resulted in the loss of much of the heart and spirit of public educational music programs.
Compiled from the MENC web page, www.menc.org.
Volume I - 1996 Amazing Grace
America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)
America the Beautiful
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Blue Skies
Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)
De Colores
Do-Re-Mi
Down by the Riverside
Frere Jaques
Give My Regards to Broadway
God Bless America
God Bless the U.S.A.
Green, Green Grass of Home
Havah NagilahHe's Got the Whole World in His Hands
Home on the Range
I've Been Working on the Railroad
If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)
Let There Be Peace on Earth
Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing
Michael (Row the Boat Ashore)
Dona Nobis Pachem
Music Alone Shall Live
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
Oh! Susanna
Over My Head
Puff the Magic Dragon
Rock-A-My SoulSakura
Shalom Chaverim
She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain
Shenandoah
Simple Gifts
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
This Land is Your Land
The Star Spangled Banner
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
This Little Light of Mine
Yesterday
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-DahVolume II - 2000 All Through the Night
Auld Lang Syne
Both Sides Now
Camptown Races
Clementine
Down In the Valley
Edelweiss
Erie Canal
Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit
Five Hundred Miles
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd
Getting to Know You
Guantanamera
I Love the Mountains
I've Got RhythmGoodnight Irene
It's a Small World
Jamaica Farewell
Kum Ba Yah
Let It Be
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Make New Friends
Midnight Special
My Favorite Things
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Over the Rainbow
Peace Like a River
Precious Lord
Red River Valley
Rock Around the ClockSide By Side
Take Me Home, Country Roads
To Every Season (Turn! Turn! Turn!)
Try to Remember
The Water Is Wide
We Shall Overcome
What a Wonderful World
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
When the Saints Go Marching In
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
Yankee Doodle
You Are My Sunshine
You Are The Sunshine of My Life
You're a Grand Old Flag
You've Got a Friend