{"id":6994,"date":"2007-09-13T08:54:50","date_gmt":"2007-09-13T12:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6994"},"modified":"2022-10-13T21:02:29","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T01:02:29","slug":"happy-birthday-to-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6994","title":{"rendered":"Happy birthday to The Star Spangled Banner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>by Percy Moran<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Francis Scott Key catching that glimpse on September 13, 1814.<\/p>\n<p>Here is one of the original broadsides of the lyrics.  It was called &#8220;The Defense of Fort McHenry&#8221; at the time.<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t help but think of Eddie Izzard&#8217;s very funny bit about the singing of the national anthem &#8211; and that if you can&#8217;t remember the lyrics &#8211; just be firm, use &#8220;big mouths&#8221;, and keep &#8220;confirming and denying&#8221; with your hand gestures.  hahaha<\/p>\n<p>And yes, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Star-Spangled_Banner\">like wikipedia mentions<\/a>, it is one of the more difficult songs to sing &#8211; and most anthems are notoriously EASY to sing, because &#8211; duh &#8211; they are for the MASSES, not for opera singers.  But <i>Star Spangled Banner<\/i> starts low and goes way up high &#8211; and it takes a really good singer to pull it off (uhm, Whitney Houston??  Before she became a rickety crack ho?  Her live version, for me, is the best.  See video clip below.  Phenomenal.)<\/p>\n<p>So happy birthday, dear national anthem.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<object width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Q5GSxSmYvME\"><\/param><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Q5GSxSmYvME\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" wmode=\"transparent\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p>\n<p>\n<p>\nO say, can you see, by the dawn&#8217;s early light,<br \/>\nWhat so proudly we hailed at the twilight&#8217;s last gleaming?<br \/>\nWhose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,<br \/>\nO&#8217;er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!<br \/>\nAnd the rockets&#8217; red glare, the bombs bursting in air,<br \/>\nGave proof through the night that our flag was still there:<br \/>\nO say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave<br \/>\nO&#8217;er the land of the free and the home of the brave?<\/p>\n<p>On the shore, dimly seen thro&#8217; the mist of the deep,<br \/>\nWhere the foe&#8217;s haughty host in dread silence reposes,<br \/>\nWhat is that which the breeze, o&#8217;er the towering steep.<br \/>\nAs it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?<br \/>\nNow it catches the gleam of the morning&#8217;s first beam,<br \/>\nIn full glory reflected, now shines on the stream<br \/>\n&#8216;Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave<br \/>\nO&#8217;er the land of the free and the home of the brave!<\/p>\n<p>And where is that band who so vauntingly swore<br \/>\nThat the havoc of war and the battle&#8217;s confusion<br \/>\nA home and a country should leave us no more?<br \/>\nTheir blood has washed out their foul footstep&#8217;s pollution.<br \/>\nNo refuge could save the hireling and slave<br \/>\nFrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,<br \/>\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave<br \/>\nO&#8217;er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<\/p>\n<p>Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand<br \/>\nBetween their loved homes and the war&#8217;s desolation,<br \/>\nBlest with vict&#8217;ry and peace, may the Heav&#8217;n &#8211; rescued land<br \/>\nPraise the Pow&#8217;r that hath made and preserved us a nation.<br \/>\nThen conquer we must, for our cause is just,<br \/>\nAnd this be our motto&#8211;&#8220;In God is our trust.&#8221;<br \/>\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave<br \/>\nO&#8217;er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Percy Moran Francis Scott Key catching that glimpse on September 13, 1814. Here is one of the original broadsides of the lyrics. It was called &#8220;The Defense of Fort McHenry&#8221; at the time. I can&#8217;t help but think of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=6994\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[1979,141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6994"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181284,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6994\/revisions\/181284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}