Following are the 16 responses to my query as to whether or not the Star Spangled Banner should be replaced as the national anthem of the United States. The full text of the query follows the responses. Results are evently split. By the way, I was looking at a text of the Star Spangled Banner today and I realize I erred; the “other stanza” that no one sings refers to “In God is our Trust.” So the Anthem we have as well as the 3 nominees I offered all refer to God.
I vote for ‘America’. It emphasizes the beauty, abundance and blessing of the country without all the rhetoric & violence [in the Star Spangled Banner].
Star Spangled Banner by a long shot. You are revealing your lack of sports knowledge—remember that every fan who attends college/pro games of any sort hears the national anthem at every game plus at the awards for golds in the Olympics. This is many more people than all of the Republican rallies combined since the days of Lincoln! I assure you that I can do the National Anthem, but cannot even hum the Greenwood song. Lack of religious reference also a plus.
keep it the way it is, ivan — that’s my vote. get over the fact that you can’t remember the words to the song — perhaps your grade school did a rotten job teaching it in the first place (my inner city public school had no such problems with us in the 6th grade). apparently the zillions of yahoos who attend baseball and football games annually have no such problems, and their IQ’s are an infinitesmal fraction the size of yours…as are, apparently, those of the vast number of republican party members! perhaps you want to pass the suggestion along to the russians — they’ve just decided to resurrect the soviet anthem.
Yes, replace it: considering that the tune is an old english drinking song, that’s even worse. You hardly ever hear the other verses sung, too. America the Beautiful, yes.
On this subject, I guess that I am conservative. It is easier to stay with what we have. I would keep the Star Spangled Banner – it has a special history to it. There would be too much controversy in picking a new anthem, and as you noted an anthem that has the word God in it will arouse emotions on both sides.
I agree – replace the star mangeled banner (although I do know the words – one thing good about being a sports fan!). My choices for the new US anthem:
1. Taxman (The Beatles)
2. Come on Eileen (Dex. Midnight Runners(sp?)
3. The Bitch ain’t no ho (Fat DX)
My vote goes to, not necessarily in this order:
1. I’m a little teapot, short and stout…
2. This Magic Land by Safam
3. Don’t Play with my Yo Yo
(a) remain the same
… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Keep the same. My 2.5-year old son knows the words, and I would hate for him to have to re-learn them.
God Bless America has by Irving Berlin has long been considered an option (and a more singable one, at that) by many Americans. Who am I to differ with many Americans? I’ll go for God Bless America.
The Lee Greenwood song – God Bless the USA.
I’m from Maryland, there is no way I could possibly support the overthrow of the Star Spangled Banner! It would heresy for me. (An American Abroad for a few years now)
Sorry I could care less about this.
But then what legacy would jimi Hendrix have if we dunmped the Banner? (Another American abroad for a few years now)
I think that a new national anthem could be a very useful symbolic vehicle to re-invigorate a despirited and unpatriotic country. It seems that there is a general sense of national pride the gutter, that racial tensions are still rising, that hate crimes are on the rise and the so-called “religious” right are seeking to further the divide in this country by persisting in their war against a woman’s right to decide what to do/not do with her body, and unpopularly elected president, and all of this in spite of recent economic properity is indicative of a drastic need for a new sense of hope and purpose to our lives as a people.
As for the seletions, “America the Beautiful” is (in my opinion) the most musically beautiful and lyrically patriotic song for a new American national anthem. It conjures up the images of American properity and bounty; of our gift that is our natural resources and it closes with the prayer that we Americans in this time of social unrest and crisis need, “And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”
As for the God reference? It’s time we woke up: America is a very religious country. We, as a people, believe in God. Hell, it’s on our currency, why not in our national anthem?
Responses from Abroad:
How about changing it to the International Anthem of the Communists / Long live the Proletariat….Voelker Hoert die Signale auf zum letzten Gefecht….People listen to the signs, (signals, cries) onward into the last battle…just kidding….I think it should remain – for reasons you mentioned – it allows to unite people from mant different cultural and religious backgrounds. (Switzerland)
As a sometime chorister (who toured the US and therefore had to learn the anthem in question for singing at concerts), I can summarise The SSB as follows:
* surprisingly long vocal range (an octave and a half – and that is a lot for amateurs)
* tough vocab and difficult elocution (we had a lot of fun with “bomb bursting in air”, and worse was to come when we were told – I don’t know if this is right – that it should have been “bombs”)
* difficult to breathe in sensible places (maybe that was the arrangement).
It’s not my place as a citizen of the UK to advise whether for patriotic or nationalistic reasons the US should keep or dump The SSB. But it’s a lousy piece of music – and that makes it about even with most of the world’s national anthems, as far as I can tell.
Given a free choice of a replacement, I suppose I might go daring and suggest Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” or “I want to be in America” from West Side Story (Sondheim/Bernstein). I am willing to bet that nobody else recommends these two. (London)
The Poll Question:
After a weekend of inauguration festivity I was standing in the shower last night trying to sing the Star Spangled Banner and I just couldn’t get the words right. Especially if you try and consider the meaning of the words. The point is something about a flag lasting through the night of battle in case you were ever wondering. In 8th grade, our principal discovered that hardly anyone in our school knew the words so they created a yearly “test” where everyone had to write the words down on a sheet of paper at the beginning of the school year or else they couldn’t start the next grade.
The Republicans, at all their rallies since 1980, seem to have chosen another anthem known as God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood. I just love the song and I suppose many others do too. It probably helps the Republicans maintain the illusion that they are more patriotic than Democrats.
This poll is open to all who receive this message, whether or not you are a citizen of the US. After all, each of you winds up hearing this song often enough.
Do you think the US National Anthem should (a) remain the same (b) be changed? If (b), nominate a new anthem. I hereby nominate 3 selections (but you can nominate others):
America (“Oh Beautiful, for spacious skies…”)
God Bless the USA
God Bless America
Consider the fact that all these 3 contain references to God; the anthem we have doesn’t. That might be a plus, depending on your point of view.
