Should the U.S. find a new national anthem?
By Jay Evensen, Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 2:39 pm MST
Francis Scott Key still rules. That’s good news for Flag Day.
The Internet has been chattering a bit lately with the question of whether the United States ought to change its national anthem. This week, Rasmussen Reports released a survey that said a whopping 82 percent want to keep “The Star-Spangled Banner” right where it is.
Fireworks punctuate the national anthem before an RSL soccer game.
Why would anyone want to change it? The No. 1 reasons seems to be that it’s impossible to sing. You start with a quick trip to the musical basement, and by the time you reach “rockets red glare” you’re on a fast-moving elevator to the top floor, which launches you into the air somewhere around the “land of the free-e-e-e-e!” That’s if your voice hasn’t croaked by then.
On NECN.com, writer Greg Wayland quotes the artistic director of the Berklee College of Music American Roots, Matt Glaser, as calling it a mess — deadly and plodding in terms of musical artistry. And the words are apparently so confusing even singers like Christine Aguilera can’t get them right at the start of football games.
The songs often mentioned as replacements are “America the Beautiful” or “God Bless America.” But the irreverent site policymic.com (warning, the site contains some offensive language), also suggests Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” Neil Diamond’s “America” and some jaw-droppers like Green Day’s “American Idiot” (imagine how proud that would make you feel during Olympic medal ceremonies).
This sounds like a ridiculous topic, but the “Star-Spangled Banner” has been the official national anthem only since 1931.
Still, as much as I like “America the Beautiful,” I side with the majority in the Rasmussen Reports poll. (An unscientific Fox poll found 91 percent in favor of keeping it, high notes and all.) Forget about artistry, the song is full of history.
The flag Francis Scott Key saw over Ft. McHenry is on display in the Smithsonian to remind us that we’re not just singing words.
Besides, if you want an easy national anthem to sing, go live in one of those sissy countries.
Why “America the Beautiful” Should Be Our National Anthem
By John Unger Zussman
No, it’s not because the “Star-Spangled Banner” (let’s call it SSB) is unsingable. The notes span about an octave and a half, which is within most people’s range. (The issue is that different people’s ranges don’t necessarily overlap.) But I digress. The problem is the underlying attitude toward America framed by the SSB. It’s hinted in the opening verse, which we all know, but much more explicit in the last:
Then conquer we must,
When our cause it is just,
And this be our motto:
“In God is our trust.”
The SSB idealizes a militaristic, imperialistic America, one that turns to God for help in imposing our view of justice on the world. Contrast this with “America the Beautiful” (ATB), which is not just about the scenery. Consider the second verse:
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
ATB portrays an America that celebrates not just spacious skies and purple mountains, but immigrants and freedom, self-control and law. It sees America, realistically, as imperfect, but asks for divine help to perfect it.
And the poetry’s better. Thank Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the lyrics.
That’s the America I plan to celebrate this Independence Day, because there’s more than one kind of patriotism. Don’t let anyone tell you different.