The Theme Song of the S/S United States

“The First Lady of the Sea”

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If Washington was Head Man of the Nation and Martha was the first Lady of the Land, Americans with justified elation have found First Lady’s to be grand. There have always been first Ladies of the Nation, but never a first Lady of the Sea. It’s as though the people waited for a ship to really rate it. And now they’ve found the key.

Salute the United States, first Lady of the Sea. Power in every line, she has beauty and dignity. The first Lady of the Sea endowed with her country’s grace, proud of her destiny, the SS United States. She’s got New York style, California grace, the Mid West strength, and Texas space, the Southlands charm and the Nation’s pace; she’s got freedom’s form and liberty’s face. So salute the United States, proclaim triumphantly in a mighty voice, the people’s choice, she’s the first, first Lady of the Sea.

She’s got New York style, California grace, the Mid West strength, and Texas space, the Southlands charm and the Nation’s pace; she’s got freedom’s form and liberty’s face. So salute the United States, proclaim triumphantly in a mighty voice, the people’s choice, she’s the first, first Lady of the Sea.

She’s the first, first Lady of the Sea. She’s got New York style, California grace, the Mid West strength, and Texas space, the Southlands charm and the Nation’s pace; she’s got freedom’s form and liberty’s face. So salute the United States, proclaim triumphantly in a mighty voice, the people’s choice, she’s the first, first Lady of the Sea.

Words by Emery Davis and music by Meyer Davis (1952)

Written specially for the maiden voyage of the S/S United States in 1952