| 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.
|