On Frozen Blog addresses one of my pet peeves in attending sporting events in the DC area; in fact, it's my biggest pet peeve after knowing full well that 90 percent of the people around here don't care two whits about any team other than the
Redskins. (Hello, people...the team is 4-9 with
Joe Gibbs,
Gregg Williams,
Al Saunders, the
ghosts of
George Allen père [that's
two posts today referencing that family -- hope I don't have some sort of Allen-o-philia] and
Vince Lombardi, and
Santa Claus on the coaching staff, so they ain't goin' nowhere this year -- or, with any luck and some blessings from the football deities, next season either.)
I'm very open about the fact that I think "
The Star-Spangled Banner" (I will abbreviate hereafter as "TSSB") is a terrible national anthem. "Why?" you ask.
- It's about a flag, not a country.
- Speaking more to that point, can most Americans honestly say they know how the song/poem came to be? If not, it loses even more meaning.
- Unless you're a fairly competent vocalist, it's hard to sing.
- Given (3), if a large-enough crowd attempts to sing it -- and if you're at a sporting event, a good number of folks have probably been a bit over-served already, so to speak -- it just sounds bad.
- Of course, if they are over-served, it fits right in, considering that "To Anacreon in Heaven," the tune to which the Key poem was set, was, more or less, a drinking song.
As such, I'd be very amenable to changing our national anthem to "
America the Beautiful" (this is the
U.S. Navy Band [with the
Sea Chanters], pre-
Randy or
Deech) or "
My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (the
Coast Guard Band here) -- even with their theistic references, which I am leery of using in this nation that
purports to celebrate
separation of church and state -- because they speak to the history, beauty, and wonder of the United States and
not to a bombed-out
Free State flag.
All that being said, however, for the time being,
show some respect for "
TSSB" (gotta love
Hendrix, who was, of course, a parachute infantryman with the
101st Airborne) as well as for the
men and women who have fought and died defending the very flag about which we sing (albeit poorly more often than not) and protecting
rights like criticizing the validity of our national "song."
* * * * *On a related note, does anyone know where one might find audio and/or video clips of
James Earl Jones reciting "TTSB" before last night's (12.13.06)
Wizards-Nuggets tilt at
the Phone Booth? If so,
let me know.
* * * * *If you're wondering, the flag above is the
32-star model in use from 7.4.1858 to 7.3.1859 -- the 32
nd state being
Minnesota, of course. (I apologize for using the
Rouser as the clip as it's not the
state song, but it's peppier and I actually know the words to it.)
1 comment:
I agree with you that our national anthem should be "America the Beautiful". Much better song. Easier to sing. And it's NOT an British drinking song.
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