Posted on 04/12/2006 11:20:33 AM PDT by Pyro7480
...Given its circumscribed ceremonial function, and the general shortage of non-sports public gatherings these days, "The Star-Spangled Banner" doesn't get around the way it used to.... A recent Harris poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans don't even know the words.....
The enthusiasm of new Americans for the national anthem only underscores the indifference and ignorance of the rest of us. This gap between what the anthem could be and what it is has prompted the National Association for Music Education, a teachers' group, to create The National Anthem Project to try to reinvigorate "The Star-Spangled Banner."
There is, however, another point of view: Some of us feel that the current national anthem is not worth saving....
In "Angels in America," Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, an African-American character named Belize suggests that the difficulty was part of the composer's plan. "The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing," Belize insists. "He set the word 'free' to a note so high nobody can reach it."
Over the years, there have been numerous suggestions for songs that could replace "The Star-Spangled Banner." My suggestion, since I have a weakness for American popular songs, and a sentimental attachment to immigrant success stories, is "God Bless America,"....
There are two obvious objections to "God Bless America," of course: the first two words of the song, "God" and "bless." I'll admit this is a problem, although I feel sure that only the twitchiest atheists would object to the nonsectarian deity that "God Bless America" — and "In God We Trust," for that matter — evokes. The song is literally a prayer, but it's far gentler than one a crazed theocrat might concoct....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It made me wonder if we are still a nation, whether we have anything that holds us together in a way that can be called a nation. The liberals say that we are a "credal nation," that a liberal doctrine and "the American dream" hold us together - this one from the NY Times also tells us that few know the words to the anthem. Fewer still have read (or can read?) the founding documents. Now the question of the day is whether we actually have a border.
I think you're right
The whole trick is that you have to remember that it starts LOW. Most songs start in the middle of the overall range -- but the SSB is in the basement on note 3.
So pitch it low, and you'll have no trouble (or hum the next to last measure to yourself before you start).
I attended a luncheon yesterday in Ft. Worth along with about 500 others. We were entertained by a Homeschooled Youth Choir and their closing song was the entire National Anthem. Every person in room stopped talking a rose their feet and I doubt if there was a dry eye in the room. Every few other songs than can do that. Powerfull.
It is like debating how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. We are not going to change our national anthem, except perhaps to translate it into Spanish, which will become the official language by the end of the century.
They're absolutely right. Let's make God Bless America our national anthem and making all the ACLU atheists' kids sing it every morning before the morning announcements at school...
Thank you. I'm glad.
I'm the same way.
My Grandfather, who immigrated to this country in the early 20th century, was so touched by The Star Spangled Banner that he cried every time he heard it.
That makes two of us, and I practically bawled when I heard it at a symohony performance a few months ago. The guest conductor (can't remember his name) started off the evening with the "Star-Spangled Banner." He was probably in his fifties or sixties and came from East Germany. The anthem wasn't on the program, but the instant that the first few notes sounded the entire audience leapt to their feet, put their hands over their hearts and sang as loud as they could. Afterwards, he explained that his dream as a young conductor had been to be in America and hear the "Star Spangled Banner" play under his direction; since he couldn't then, he took every available chance to do so now. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. Needless to say, it was a fantastic performance.
I love "America" and "God Bless America" too, but the "Star Spangled Banner" has been our anthem throughout our wars and is itself a beautiful tune, if not murdered by idiot pop stars who find it necessary to use it to show off their improvisational techniques (gag).
*symphony, duh
"Well, so what! I bet 2/3 of the country couldn't name 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence, or tell you what year the Constitution was passed, or name the Secretary of State, or 5 state capitals, or their 2 Senators, or their House Rep, or 2 Supreme Court justices."
EXACTLY
My guess is they don't know America the Beautiful either.
The part about "And this be our motto 'In God is our Trust'"?
"The liberals say that we are a "credal nation," that a liberal doctrine and "the American dream" hold us together.."
Except THEIR "creed" is OUR nightmare.
America is divided - not racially or ethnically - but culturally. On one side are those individuals who value and cherish the beliefs of the Founding Fathers who created this great nation, and on the other are those who want to "remake" America into a kind of socialist, globalist monstrosity run by mommy government.
No other song makes my skin tingle and my heart and soul rise up like the Star-Spangled Banner - the National Anthem with a History.
I agree with you, ZULU. I get goose-bumps and tear up whenever I hear it. You are right. It tells the story of America. However, I also like "America the Beautiful". I tear up when I hear that, too.
I think "The Slimes" is overrated.
"Francis Scott Key wrote it as a poem, not a song. It was only later set to music. When the character in Angels in America made the comment about how it the song was written poorly (paraphrase), he was displaying his ignorance of this fact. No surprise there."
No, he had the tune specifically in mind. In fact, he had written other lyrics for it previously.
"To Anacreon in Heaven" was very popular for setting to patriotice music. There were versions called "Adams and Liberty" and "Jefferson and Liberty" before TSSB. And many others besides.
Check this out.
They're only midi files, but have a lot of old tunes in them.
http://www.contemplator.com/folk.html
I was alway partial to Barbara Allen, the Girl I left Behind Me and Garryowen.
Proud to be an American is the ringtone on my phone. It gets a smile whenever and wherever it rings.
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