The National Anthem Sucks

Is WAP better?

WAP? Who is that, R1? Is he a songwriter?

He has major cookieface there.

OP is Macy Gray.

🇺🇸

OP is a typical woke Marxist who wants to destroy everything that's culturally American.

Maybe you’d prefer this one OP.

[QUOTE] OP is a typical woke Marxist who wants to destroy everything that's culturally American.

I’m not woke or a Marxist. I’m a patriotic, moderate Democrat who supported both Joe Biden and Eric Adams early when the rest of you motherfuckers were on here trashing them. I’m speaking objectively. The song is wack, and its writer in no way resembles a decent American worthy of praise.

It’s a terrible song and needs to be dumped for something a bit more modern.

Fuck off, Op and R9

R7, poor Kate. She sang "coon" songs when others did in the 1930s and now she's the only one banned. Kate raised more money for War Bonds during WII than any entertainer. Glad she didn't live to see this hatred by bigots.

It’s pretty tacky that it is based on a British drinking song.

I have just the song to unite and educate the poors, OP.

I’ll start a petition.

It's a shitty national anthem.

"Let's fuck each other on an Escapade....let's go!"

It is truly a dreadful song, penned by a dreadful person. Recommend replacing it with “Freeway of Love.”

I was going to suggest Born in the USA, but I’m afraid of being canceled.

We need a catchy, bloodthirsty national anthem like France. Something that's fun to sing. No one likes the Star Spangled Banner. It's a stupid song that was adopted way after the fact and there's nothing wrong with throwing it out and getting a better one!

We need something that represents modern America

[QUOTE] I was going to suggest Born in the USA, but I’m afraid of being canceled.

Born in the USA would make a damn fine national anthem. And The Boss is a much better person than Francis Scott KKKey.

Born in the USA is an antiwar song. It'd piss off a lot of people. Someone needs to write some patriotic lyrics to "You Give Love a Bad Name" or "Talk Dirty to Me." That would be an anthem I could get behind.

Americans are very much antiwar on both sides of the aisle now. Didn’t Donald Trump try to have this song played at his rallies and events? How can Deplorables dislike the song when their limp dick insurrectionist hero approves of it?

It's notoriously difficult to sing and play.

Sweet Caroline

Francis Scott Key had a pretty nice wig and whoever did his makeup deserves recognition.

Ever state should have its own anthem.

We win!

He looks like my Aunt Doris.

It is a difficult song to sing, but I don't know what would be better. America the Beautiful is might be the best option. It was inspired by the view from Pike's Peak, and is much easier to sing, and the song is okay. I don't think it has any lingering racist connotations attached to the song or the song writer. God Bless America is too churchy, and tied to the racism accusations against Kate Smith. My Country Tis of Thee is just God Save the Queen in American Patriotic Drag.

I enjoy Laurie Anderson's observations about the Star Spangled Banner as well as Yankee Doodle - a surrealist masterpiece.

Go take your meds R10.

The second verse isn’t kind to slaves

The second verse isn’t kind to my ears, either.

You have to choose something which speaks to the actual glories of the American nation.

This will do nicely.

Dumbasses, Columbia the Gem of the Ocean was the national anthem before some tone-deaf bitches went with Star Spangled Banner.

Stop defining people by whether they were "racist". It's pure fascism and yes, racism.

“no way resembles a decent American worthy of praise.”

Now get two people on opposite ends of the spectrum to agree what is worthy. By definition of what 2021 is EVERYONE and Everything was racist prior to 2 years ago . So someone born over 200 years ago would not have Rightthink. But hey rewrite the past . Who cares.

[QUOTE] Stop defining people by whether they were "racist".

If we can’t use whether or not a person was racist to define who they are, then what the fuck are we supposed to use, exactly? If he kidnapped infants and ate them alive, is that allowed to count towards character, R34, or would you also skip over that part?

I dislike the national anthem because it's impossible to sing, over the top and too bombastic.

A couple of years ago I stopped standing for the national anthem and seriously nobody even notices or mentions it to me. After I read about Francis Scott Key, I decided that we can do better. He was a racist and the song is about fighting war.

America the Beautiful would be a better anthem.

This land was made for you and me.

Robert Altman presented us with an alternate National Anthem back in 1975 in NASHVILLE. (Words & music by Keith Carradine)

"You may say that I ain't free / But it don't worry me"

I always loved America the Beautiful best. I especially loved Ray Charles' version.

R41

I agree. The words are so pretty. And the melody is singable.

I nominate Bad Romance:

Ra-Ra- Roma Roma Gaga Ooh-La-La America, I want your bad romance I want your ugly I want your disease I want you everything as long as it's free I want you love, America Love, love, love I want your love

Here's a suggestion:

Julia Ward Howe wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic. I was going to say she was related to FSK on her mother's side, then I remembered she was not related to him but to Francis Marion, the 'swamp fox.' Who owned a plantation and slaves. Who fought in the French & Indian wars, yet did not join the Continental Army but formed a separate militia fighting against the British, including freed slaves that fought on the British side.

None of this is pretty.

Francis Scott Key-Child her wig was busted and she pose like she Beyonce pullin on a 5k lace wig. Gurl....

The anthem is fine enough. I’m just sick of hearing it at all sporting events

“Dixie” has the word “gay” in it.

If you’re sick of hearing it then it’s not “fine enough,” R48.

urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei eh!

urelei urelei urelei urelei urelei USA

And so the dumbing down of Kardiashian Kulture kontinues…

“ I’m a patriotic, moderate Democrat who supported both Joe Biden and Eric Adams early when the rest of you motherfuckers were on here trashing them. I’m speaking objectively”

So basically you’re a media brainwashed retard that votes against your own interests? You should have supported Bernie and Yang if you’re not a billionaire.

If I supported Bernie and he won the nomination, then Donald Trump would still be president, you friggin moron.

OP doesn't like it so she wants all of us to not like it.

We have major catastrophes headed our way, with subpar wages, healthcare, etc., to keep worrying about the character of people from the past. What happened, happened. There's no one alive to punish. Time to move forward. I understand wanting to pull out American roots that have rot, but personally, I don't think it's a priority at this time.

I say this as a member of a group that is still fucked over, in present day, but I know rewriting the anthem isn't going to do a damn thing to stop abuses going on at this very moment.

The anthem was a recent decision, this was a popular tune before the Star-Spangled Banner became official

This is a tepid interpretation of the original drinking song that was the melody for the anthem

You have to be a goose to be able to sing the US national anthem properly. I've always thought the Oh Canada was infinitely better and sing along to That at sporting events. And, yes I'm American. That doesn't mean I can't have good taste (in most cases).

R59 I guess we could always ask the Canadians to sing it for us.

[quote]We need a catchy, bloodthirsty national anthem like France. Something that's fun to sing.

J'aime la phrase "Aux armes, citoyens...formez vos bataillons."

Key just wrote the lyrics, though, is that what we're talking about? The tune is from John Stafford Smith, a British guy.

I think I saw Key roaming around Pride in a Mankini.

Looks like the NFL is leading the movement to replace the national anthem with Lift Every Voice and Sing. Frankly I’d love it as it’s a much better song.

I don’t think that the NFL is replacing the Star Spangled Banner with Lift Every Voice and Sing, but supplementing the opening by including both. That seems like a good decision.

"I’m not woke or a Marxist. I’m a patriotic, moderate Democrat who supported both Joe Biden and Eric Adams early when the rest of you motherfuckers were on here trashing them. I’m speaking objectively. The song is wack, and its writer in no way resembles a decent American worthy of praise."

Oh, shut up you tiny upset snowflake. You don't sound "patriotic" to me. Hating the national anthem...that's not very patriotic.

Shut the fuck up, R66. Like you seriously enjoy listening to the national anthem.

It doesn't matter whether I like or not, fuckhead at R57, although I have liked versions I've heard of it. It's the country's national anthem. To actively dislike it and want to replace it with something that in all likelihood would be REALLY shitty, indicates that you and others of your ilk are pathologically woke.

We don't sing (or even KNOW) the other verses, so the Anthem is not racist.

Complete version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" showing spelling and punctuation from Francis Scott Key's manuscript in the Maryland Historical Society collection:

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

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

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a Country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand

Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!

Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

America the Beautiful was written by a lesbian. The Leslie Gore of patriotic song.

"For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! "

Bill Maher calls to make Lift Every Voice and Sing the new National Anthem:

[quote]Born in the USA is an antiwar song. It'd piss off a lot of people.

Reagan's campaign used this at their rallies in 1984 despite Bruce S's protests. Reagan and his supporters were very pro-military and hawkish ("We'll go in like Rambo"), but they had no idea the song was anti-war. They probably didn't pay attention to the lyrics past the refrain, and read what they wanted into it.

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" will officially replace the current anthem. I predicted this a year ago on DL. Give it another year.

[Quote]who has so much time and inclination to open plural accounts and switch between them for the purpose of posting unhinged rants?

An unemployed person.

Sondheim wrote us "Another National Anthem."

[quote] "Lift Every Voice and Sing" will officially replace the current anthem. I predicted this a year ago on DL. Give it another year.

Another year will come and go and the national anthem will be the same. There's no reason to replace it.

Americans cling to traditions as if they cannot be ever changed--which is why we still have a outdated constitution and anthem.

I'm not sure america loves traditions so much. It's more like the barriers to changing them are super-crazy high.

[quote] "Lift Every Voice and Sing" will officially replace the current anthem. I predicted this a year ago on DL. Give it another year.

Not any time soon. Not in this highly-charged political environment. Francis Scott Key was a slaveholder, but so were Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. He was dead long before the Civil War started. And his views on slavery shifted somewhat over time — as a lawyer he represented both freed slaves and slaveholders.

Bottom line: there is no overriding, compelling reason to ditch the Star Spangled Banner, and as a result no one will move in that direction.

R81, it's not just that Key was a slaveholder, the third verse mentions slave trying to escape having no refuge.

R82, the third stanza is subject to debate as to its meaning:

[quote] Absent elaboration by Francis Scott Key prior to his death in 1843, some have speculated more recently about the meaning of phrases or verses, particularly the phrase "the hireling and slave" from the third stanza. According to British historian Robin Blackburn, the phrase alludes to the thousands of ex-slaves in the British ranks organized as the Corps of Colonial Marines, who had been liberated by the British and demanded to be placed in the battle line "where they might expect to meet their former masters."[10] Mark Clague, a professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, argues that the "middle two verses of Key's lyric vilify the British enemy in the War of 1812" and "in no way glorifies or celebrates slavery."[11] Clague writes that "For Key ... the British mercenaries were scoundrels and the Colonial Marines were traitors who threatened to spark a national insurrection."[11] This harshly anti-British nature of Verse 3 led to its omission in sheet music in World War I, when the British and the U.S. were allies.[11] Responding to the assertion of writer Jon Schwarz of The Intercept that the song is a "celebration of slavery",[12] Clague argues that the American forces at the battle consisted of a mixed group of White Americans and African Americans, and that "the term “freemen,” whose heroism is celebrated in the fourth stanza, would have encompassed both."[13]

[quote] Others suggest that "Key may have intended the phrase as a reference to the Royal Navy's practice of impressment which had been a major factor in the outbreak of the war, or as a semi-metaphorical slap at the British invading force as a whole (which included a large number of mercenaries)."[14]

I like it but there's no denying it's one of the most difficult national anthems to sing. It spans a huge range compared to many other Western countries' anthems, to the point where the low parts are hard for many sopranos and tenors to sing and the high parts are hard for most baritones and altos, no matter what key you put it in. It's just not a well written vocal line.

[quote] It’s a terrible song and needs to be dumped for something a bit more modern.

God help us

The OP sounds like a hysterical twat.

"I’m a patriotic, moderate Democrat who supported both Joe Biden and Eric Adams early when the rest of you motherfuckers were on here trashing them. I’m speaking objectively. The song is wack, and its writer in no way resembles a decent American worthy of praise."

From your rant it's obvious you're much more a raving leftist than a "patriotic, moderate Democrat." And "wack?" Hoo boy, that is dumb.

Ours is the only national anthem in the world that begins and ends with a question.

"America the Beautiful" is fine but the line "God shed his grace on thee" needs to be changed to something secular.

An anthem is best if it is easy to sing, easy to rearrange and transpose, easy to play with a big or a small band, the low notes not too low or the high notes too high - and short.

Then we can all sing it together and don't have to get people like Roseanne to sing it for us.

This is the hill you choose to die on, OP?

National Anthems are a fairly recent phenomenon, even 'God Save The Queen/King' only came into common use in the past 200 or so years.

At some sporting/musical events other songs are used, usually 'Jerusalem' or 'Land of Hope and Glory'. 'God Save the Queen' is usually reserved for events attended by royalty.

You certainly don't here them at every event in the UK, probably for the same reason we don't swear allegiance to The Queen or the Flag in normal life - It's not necessary.

^^ hear nor here, fucking auto correct....^^^

Don't they play "God Save the Queen" at the Olympics, like when Tom Daley was awarded his gold medal?

They probably do, you don't hear it at every mass sporting event though. That would be weird and devalue it.

I never heard it played even once at any of my schools.

[quote]The anthem is fine enough. I’m just sick of hearing it at all sporting events

The problem is all these (inferior) singers are trying to copy Whitney Houston's version. It used to be common to see male singers singing the anthem, now every girl who with a music career wants her Whitney moment, right down to her unique embellishments. For example, the note she sings at "free-EEE" wasn't part of the original music, now almost every singer includes it in their rendition.

R83, the former slaves that joined the British army did so because there was a prevailing view that the Brits would save the country from slavery.

So, yes, the stanza is about slaves daring to escape their owners and join the British army. It makes a specific point to call them out.

Columbia the Gem of the Ocean was the national anthem before the racists changed it.

[quote] So, yes, the stanza is about slaves daring to escape their owners and join the British army. It makes a specific point to call them out.

That is your interpretation. It is not clear cut and not all historians agree with that view.

America, Fuck Yeah!

[quote] That is your interpretation. It is not clear cut and not all historians agree with that view.

Yes, no one is sure exactly what he meant, but he specifically calls out slaves who tried to escape. It almost doesn't matter exactly what he meant because every possibility is racist

If you’re trying to interpret someone’s words, it’s always good to look at the character of the individual who’s saying it in order to glean where they may have been coming from. And what was the nature of Francis Scott Key? He was a racist who felt slaves were subhuman. That should tell you what he meant.

He was a huge piece of shit any way you slice it.

R102, back then everyone was racist. Fine.

But should we really have a national anthem with racist language?

The lyrics are too hard to remember!

All you tiny delicate snowflakes who are squealing "racist, ooh, ooh, the National Anthem is RACIST!" would benefit from therapy and medication. Getting upset about the National Anthem...that's extreme.

R106 = white guy