It's so interesting that the media is says we are wimping out. I think we are gettin' stronger as a nation.
I think the words are, "Oar the ramparts, we watched." I don't know what people were doing with oars on the ramparts, but it must have been a sight to behold if someone wrote a song about it.
ram·part n.
1.A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.
2.A means of protection or defense; a bulwark. See Synonyms at bulwark.
[I must confess at my old, 40-something age, I never bothered to look up rampart--we both learned something]
Hey, Duh, I know you are joshing me. However, for those victims of the public school system (i.e. commie indoctrination camp 101) I shall relate the following.
Ahem, students, the Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812. Key had been briefly imprisoned upon a British Man O'War in Chesapeake Bay, while trying to negotiate a friend's release.
As he watched the bombardment, he was amazed that the Stars and Stripes still flew (Paul Harvey has reported that the men of the garrison, realizing the import of the flying flag to the Americans, volunteered to hold Old Glory aloft after the flagpole was decimated - as each man died, another would crawl forward to take his place).
The "ramparts" thus are the walls of Fort McHenry, still standing in Baltimore, MD.
"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there."
How 'bout that the flag was still there after the horrendous fight, and the "broad stripes and bright stars .... were so gallantly streaming" .. as we were watching over the ramparts (which are fortifying embankments)??
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
Just a thought. How stirring and emotional it was to hear it sung by that beautiful Irish tenor voice tonight and see the eagle, the jets, our beloved Prez throw a perfect pitch. Memorable night!! Please keep our brave military and our wonderful President in your daily prayers.