I work about a mile from where “in defence of Ft. McHenry” was written. It there wasn’t a building in the way, I could see the fort.
With all the illegal immigration, the first line will be changed to “Jose, can you see?”
Even Stevie Wonder could have seen that one coming.....
Sadly, we have gone from “O Say Can You See?” to “Jose, cain jou see?”
I’m actually watching the PBS special on this. OK so far.
And it takes twenty minutes to sing the last stanza .... not counting the screeching and wailing in the first part.
STAR SPANGLED BANNER
Francis Scott Key - 1814
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
American military performance was wildly uneven in the War of 1812. The Army, anyway. The Navy did fine throughout.
Madison Rising’s version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8C7i9kdEf8
this one makes me want to lock and load
Well, now that hispanics are moving into the majority, it’s “Jose, can you see.”
A scan of the first magazine printing of the Star Spangled Banner as it appeared in the Analectic Magazine in November, 1814
He watched the flag at the fort through the whole day with an anxiety that can be better felt than described, .
A scan of the Centennial program celebration, Sept 6 -14, 1914
A felt banner from the Centennial celebration, Sept 6 -14, 1914
A lapel button from the Centennial celebration, Sept 6 -14, 1914, that I happen to be wearing today!
We have a lot to be thankful for.
Lets all celebrate!
FReegards!
Best ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EVgBg