meaning of the star spangled banner song

Many a performer has fretted over the high note on the word “glare”, yet “to sound this note true and in tune is to signal the melody’s extraordinary ambition, not only to symbolise heroism but in a sense to be heroic.” The music itself was written in around 1778 by John Stafford Smith, an Englishman. “Gentlemen,” said the rebels, “if we’d had your songs, we’d have licked you out of your boots!”Īlongside the anthem’s historical significance, Mr Clague explores its musicology. At the Court House in Appomattox, a quartet of Union soldiers serenaded former Confederate officers as the peace was signed. During the civil war the Confederates twisted the lyrics: “O say does that Rag-Strangled Banner still wave/O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?” Later the proper version helped reconcile the foes. More than 30 other songs set to the same tune were written about the War of 1812 alone. Translate the anthem into another language, sing it poorly or adapt it to a new musical tradition and someone will howl.Īll the same, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has also been remarkably pliable.

Almost any deviation from custom can cause a stir. Kneeling or raising a fist, as African-American athletes have done to protest against racism, makes a political statement.

Removing your hat for it signals respect. Unlike a flag, he writes, a song must be performed, so it is “not a static icon but a patriotic act”. Mr Clague, a music professor at the University of Michigan, has produced a thoughtful and elegant history of America’s national anthem.

Meaning of the star spangled banner song