Musing about a New National Anthem That Says More Than: Something About A Flag Still Waving.

by frankiespeakin 5 Replies latest jw friends

  • frankiespeakin
    frankiespeakin

    What do you think should this 1814 ditty, be thrown in the scrap heap and be replaced by something far nobler than words about a skirmish with the mother land and keeping the Republic emblem flapping in the breeze?

    What say Yea? Personally I think there are much more nobler things that could be incorporated into a national anthem that would have a much more tremendous uplift for the nation,,and wish that some really talented enlightened poets and composers would put out there and perhaps in some not to future date be adopted.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner

    "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", [ 1 ] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

    The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions. [ 2 ] The fourth stanza includes the line "And this be our motto: In God is our Trust". [ 3 ] The United States adopted "In God We Trust" as its national motto in 1956.

    "The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressionalresolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. ยง 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover

  • james_woods
    james_woods

    A new national anthem ought to sell about as well as Solyndra solar panels, or the Chevy Volt.

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    It is a pathethic national anthem. America the Beautiful or the pilgrim's pride song, even My Country tis of thee are better choices. I can't believe that it was n ot viewed as lame when it was written. Both the music and the lyrics are unfortunate. I think we are stuck with tradition.

  • james_woods
    james_woods
    It is a pathethic national anthem. America the Beautiful or the pilgrim's pride song, even My Country tis of thee are better choices. I can't believe that it was n ot viewed as lame when it was written. Both the music and the lyrics are unfortunate. I think we are stuck with tradition.

    I rather like the historical story behind the lyrics - the author captured and held on a British ship, then watching the battle and seeing that the flag was not taken. Rather more patriotic than the other choices, and it reinforces the flag image.

  • cofty
    cofty

    We too have a boring national anthem.

    Here is Bill Connelly's take on it...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    I'm a big fan of "O Canada."

    "America - F-Yeah!" from Team America: World Police should be our national anthem in the USA.

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