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I do love America, despite it being run by a corporate owned sock puppet (Obama) who is only slightly better than the last corporate owned sock puppet. I really do like this country...which is why it saddens me that this nation has what may possibly be THE WORST ANTHEM of any nation in history.
I mean, the lyrics are obscure and use speech that is not used today (spangled? Oy see?) and the notes change pitch at the wrong times and...come on, let's face it, it is SIMPLY UNSINGABLE!
Worst part is, THE BAD GUYS HAD BETTER ANTHEMS THAN WE DO.
Even heard the anthem of Nazi Germany? Awful, psychotic chumps though they were, at least they had a beautiful patriotic song:
And yes, the Star Spangled Banner is the melody of a drinking song attached to a poem that was never meant to be a song...which may be why no one seems to be able to make it sound like an actual song and it always end up sounding like a cat being waterboarded.
But of course, this is one of those things you can't say in America. "People died for that flag" and "that is your country" and the ever popular "if you don't like it, MOVE" is what I hear. Gee, maybe this land that people died for DESERVES A BETTER ANTHEM than that nails-on-a-chalk-board ditty.
Of course my choice would be something people could stand up and join in singing (no one does that with our anthem, unlike so many others) But certain people who live...*ahem* south of a certain line would never let the obvious choice for a superior anthem go through.
It was a poem, written and later a song was written so that you could sing the poem.
I don't think about it being beautiful, I think about the meaning, and Washington burning, Baltimore being shelled by British soldiers, and them holding out through the night, with the one question, does that star spangled banner yet wave?
I do love America, despite it being run by a corporate owned sock puppet (Obama) who is only slightly better than the last corporate owned sock puppet. I really do like this country...which is why it saddens me that this nation has what may possibly be THE WORST ANTHEM of any nation in history.
I mean, the lyrics are obscure and use speech that is not used today (spangled? Oy see?) and the notes change pitch at the wrong times and...come on, let's face it, it is SIMPLY UNSINGABLE!
You do understand what our National Anthem is about, don't you?
Many people don't sing it correctly, and don't know the words. For example, it isn't "whose brought stripes ..." It is "whose broad stripes and bright stars."
I think it is a beautiful song of victory. It should be sung that way. It isn't a funeral march, as some sing it.
I love the phrase, "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof throught the night that our flag was still there!" Oh, glorious victory!!! "Oh, say, does that strar spangled banner yet wave, o'r the land of the free, and the home of the brave?"
Unfortunately, this adminstration does not seek to keep America free, nor brave, as he bows to our enemies.
Comparing the US National Anthem with Germany and Russia is not really a fair comparison. The German National Anthem was originally written by Joseph Haydn (even though he was an Austrian), and Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov wrote the music for the USSR National Anthem. Alexander Alexandrov was a student of Nikolai Karlovich Medtner, who was a younger contemporary of Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff. The US simply did not have the caliber of musicians that Europe (particularly Germany and Austria) and Russia had.
Meanwhile in the US, at the time The Star-Spangled Banner was chosen to be the US National Anthem, the popular music of the day were the John Philip Sousa Marches, Scott Joplin's Ragtime, and Blues. Furthermore, the music to The Star-Spangled Banner is not even American. The Star-Spangled Banner music was originally written by John Stafford Smith titled "The Anacreontic Song" and written for an 18th-century English Gentleman's Club.
Meanwhile in the US, at the time The Star-Spangled Banner was chosen to be the US National Anthem, the popular music of the day were the John Philip Sousa Marches, Scott Joplin's Ragtime, and Blues. Furthermore, the music to The Star-Spangled Banner is not even American. The Star-Spangled Banner music was originally written by John Stafford Smith titled "The Anacreontic Song" and written for an 18th-century English Gentleman's Club.
The point of To Anaceron In Heaven was to see who could manage to get through the whole thing while plastered on cheap lager. It's the musical equivalent of the physical challenge from Double Dare. Our national anthem is meant to be sung while drunk.
Maybe they can have a contest on American Idol to pick the next national anthem? What next the Constitution sucks and is outdated. We need a new one like South Africa because ours isn't "hip" enough? Oops I was thinking of what Ginsberg was saying never mind.
It was a poem, written and later a song was written so that you could sing the poem.
I don't think about it being beautiful, I think about the meaning, and Washington burning, Baltimore being shelled by British soldiers, and them holding out through the night, with the one question, does that star spangled banner yet wave?
Actually, the music came before the lyrics. The music to The Star-Spangled Banner was first published in 1790. The "Defense of Fort McHenry" poem, written by Francis Scott Key, was written in 1814.
I vote for "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" - but preferably at the tempo of Heil Dir Im Siegerkranz
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"People died for that flag" and "that is your country" and the ever popular "if you don't like it, MOVE" is what I hear. Gee, maybe this land that people died for DESERVES A BETTER ANTHEM than that nails-on-a-chalk-board ditty. 
would never let the obvious choice for a superior anthem go through. 
