Although this song was officially adopted as the Marine Corps Hymn in 1929, a copyright to it was secured by the Corps 10 years earlier. The words date to the early nineteenth century, but the identity of their author remains a mystery. Some have attributed the first two of the song's three verses to an unknown Marine. The famous melody has been traced to a Spanish folk source—an apparently well-known one in the nineteenth century, since French composer Jacques Offenbach employed it in his now largely ignored 1859 opera bouffa Genevieve de Brabant.

Most Americans, and many foreigners for that matter, are familiar with the famous tune, which begins with the equally well-known words "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli...." The Montezuma reference pertains to the Marines' 1847 action during the Mexican War at the Castle of Chapultepec (the Montezuma Halls) and the other to the April 27, 1805, attack by the Marines and Berbers on Derna, Tripoli. Despite its fairly constricted range, the melody is cheerful and colorful, with an insistent, triumphant E proudly standing at the heart of the theme. Its second subject, beginning with "First to fight for right and freedom," reaches up a bit higher, but then remains within relatively similar confines. Without doubt, this is one of the most inspiring patriotic military songs.

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