Full american national anthem lyrics free#
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? What Does the National Anthem Mean? O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there. O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?Īnd the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, While Key penned three more verses in addition to the well-known first verse, these are the only words that most Americans know: Some time later, Key’s brother-in-law paired the poem with the tune of the English drinking song “To Anacreon in Heaven” by John Stafford Smith and began distributing the song as “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” Eventually, the song was published in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper and soon after spread across the country as “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was played at official events across the nation, officially becoming the national anthem in 1931. Still aboard the British vessel, Key began to pen the words that would later become the American national anthem. It’s hard not to think that the two might be linked.After a day and a long night in which Key thought for certain that the American fort was doomed, he was shocked when the early morning light revealed that the American flag was still there. Interestingly, this was just after the great stock market crash that brought the country into the Great Depression. It was only when Robert L Ripley pointed out in 1929 that America didn’t have an official anthem that people started demanding one. Why the wait?Ī: The country had got along perfectly well without a national anthem. Q: Francis Scott Key wrote Defence of Fort McHenry in 1814, but The Star-Spangled Banner only became the official national anthem in 1931.
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Plus, it’s actually considered quite difficult to sing, which makes it memorable. 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 - O long may it wave. I think that is part of the reason the anthem is so entrenched in the public consciousness. Just as the flag is seen everywhere, the anthem is sung on all sorts of occasions – for example, at the beginning of the Super Bowl. Key saw the fort hold during the attack and was inspired to write The Star-Spangled Banner, which became the U.S. The national anthem refers to the flag – the two are inextricably linked. Francis Scott Key was a lawyer who witnessed the daylong assault of Fort McHenry by British troops during the War of 1812. I was back in the US for six weeks recently, and I saw the flag everywhere – shopping malls, government buildings, homes. One of the events during his presidency was the composition of a poem called the 'The Defence of Fort McHenry' by Francis Scott Key (1779-1843). I think what still brings people together today is the American flag. Star Spangled Banner Lyrics James Madison was the 4th American President who served in office from Mato March 4, 1817. Of course, there were already people living in the continental US, but we are talking mainly about Europeans who came to the ‘New World’, asking how they could unite themselves. What makes the US unique really is that it was a nation created by a disparate group of people who wanted to build a country based on a set of ideals. Q: What is America’s relationship with its anthem?Ī: America is very attached to its national anthem. Its sort of unfortunate that we sing only the first verse of The Star-Spangled Banner, because it really doesnt complete the story.