NOBODY can sing the National Anthem, in any language.

[librechik]

It's just impossible. It's a terrible song. Only a trained operatic voice has the chops to do it, and the effin thing should be changed to America the Beautiful for heaven's sake. Now that sounds great in any language.

America La Guapa. Si, es bonita con el cielo tan espacio, y los campos de harina amarillo. Etc. works for me, compadres.

[DS1]

1. I hate it

Always hated it. If I'm watching a big game/fight/event on tv, and some dumb fuck insists on playing it, I'll change the channel for 2 minutes. It sucks, it's a shit song, typically sang by shit singers, with shitty sound equipment. I know where I am, I know what country I'm in, and I've been to others, and the United States is sorely lacking in many areas and it's not the land of the free, it may be the home of the brave but it's ran by cowardly chickenshits.

[Olney Blue]

5. You sound like you are in a bad mood, DS1-

Maybe Rush can give you some happy pills :)

[politrix]

56. "Land Of The Free (White People) And, The Home Of The Slaves"

They all went home to their slaves after that glorious fight.

[BR_Parkway]

2. Wasn't it Finland that CNN broadcast singing it right after 9/11? Or

maybe France? In their native language as a show of solidarity with us?

Funny how the Freepers ate that up then.

[liberal N proud]

3. It was a poem written in the time of war, later set to music.

When Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, did he intend for it to become a song?

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. Yes...

it was written to fit with the meter of the song 'To Anacreon In Heaven'. This mating of new lyrics with a current or recent topical theme to existing, well-known tunes was pretty common at the time; such songs were called 'broadsides', after the format they were printed in.

[BOSSHOG]

4. The Anthem is a tough sing

but its lyrics are awesome. And the story surrounding its birth give's it a legitimate claim to continue to be our anthem.

[Warpy]

6. Well, the Spanish version didn't scan

but I agree with the sentiment. Key picked a bar song that is best bawled blind drunk. It is an ugly melody and the lyric glorifies war. I've always disliked it intensely and thought it should have been changed to "America the Beautiful."

I've listened to the Spanish version on local radio, and they did manage a lyric that scanned, although it changed much of the sentiment, thank goodness.

It's certainly pulling the bigots out of the woodwork. Hate radio is in full cry.

[badgerpup]

34. Wrote down the lyrics...

...for a Japanese friend who was intrigued by the tune (eastern music uses a different scale than does western) and he was shocked, shocked, I tell ya.
:wow:
Commented on how violent and bloody the lyrics were once you knew what they were actually saying.

[Acebass]

7. I disagree...and can sing it in four part harmony...

Would any other country put up with this?...

[babylonsister]

8. Isn't that the song Whitney Houston sang? She did a good job. nt

[Cobalt Violet]

27. Marvin Gaye sang it so good too.

I've always like the song.

[kestrel91316]

9. You wanna translate that last part for those of us who don't speak

Spanish?

My parents always taught me that it was rude to speak a foreign language in front of people, because it was known as a way to secretly say things you would not dare say within earshot in English.

I figure since the website itself is all in English (as opposed to the actual posts), then English must be our common language here, right?

[MADem]

14. That last bit is America the beautiful, yes, it is pretty with the

spacious skies, and the fields of yellow grain...

[itzamirakul]

10. Well, FYI, I can sing it!

There are just a couple of notes that I cannot hit. But, no matter, I love it! (The National Anthem, that is!) And anyone who DOESN'T love it can just "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

[librechik]

15. if you start with the lowest note you can sing (o...

and push it down even lower (o say...) it can be done. Otherwise the high notes are generally out of reach later on. Not such a great situation in a crowd where everybody's low range is different, and most folks don't know the "start as low as you can go" trick or have to sing with a band in the proper key, which is a bit too high I find.

Anyway, I can sing it too, but must protest your demand that I get out. Can we not all get a song?

[Jigarotta]

50. José can you see....

that would make the freeps writhe in screaming agony.

[LifeDuringWartime]

58. why not rearrange it?

the tough notes could just be put down an octave to fit your range. that might be interesting.

[MADem]

11. I can go with AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, but if GOD BLESS AMERICA

makes it into the finals, I will poke my eardrums with an icepick.

That song was SO OVERPLAYED after nine one one that it started to make my skin crawl. I never minded it before, now I flat-out HATE IT.

[librechik]

18. exactly--and no mention of God in the title, please

we have enough of a problem with that sort of thing.

[catabryna]

12. I don't care for our national anthem either...

but, in the past year or so, I heard an interview with a guy who thought that the anthem was too hard to sing in B flat major and suggested changing the key to a G major. Sure does make a huge difference; enough that people could actually sing it without embarrassment. I know I can't sing the anthem at all in its current key.

On edit: the "guy" is Dr. Ed Siegel.

[librechik]

21. yes indeed

we need a better key, at least!

[kpete]

13. LOL

AND THANKS....

I never liked it except when Jimmy Hendrix did it...

[librechik]

33. yes, now that's worth a listen

50 or 60 times at top volume on microdot.

Not that I would know....

[ClassWarrior]

16. It's an English drinking song... You need to be drunk to sing it.

NGU.

[ptolle]

19. my theory

Since our national anthem was taken from a British Army drinking song- Anacreon in Heaven- with words adapted to the tune by a frightened lawyer- it's my theory that no one can come close to doing it justice unless they've got a pint or two of good old recipe british stout under their belt and they're scared half spitless from being in a city under naval artillery bombardment by the sole superpower of the era.I'm about half of the opinion that we ought to adopt a national version of it, a version performed by a highly competent brass quartet or quintet to be played by electronic means on all occasions when its performance is called for.Further I would make it a stiff misdemeanor offense for the anthem to be sung by anyone termed a country music star or up and coming country music star. I realize this would seriously affect NASCAR but for the dignity of our anthem I'd insist on strict enforcement of this proposition.

[librechik]

40. may i add to your prohibition

Mariah Carey or any soul singer who turns every vowel into a lengthy search for the tonic "Ho o o o ooo ooo o ooo oooo oo ome of the uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh Bra Ay AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY Ve uh"

[IChing]

20. Give me Woody Guthtry "This land is your land"

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

Everybody can sing this song

[librechik]

26. love it

a bit too informal for state occasions perhaps...

[DanCa]

49. Check out Bruce's version

On his Springsteen live CD.

[IChing]

51. thanks will do N/T

[H2O Man]

22. I always liked

Jimi Hendrix's instrumental version.

[librechik]

30. it's catchy

ever find yourself at an event where they get to the part of the song where Jimi breaks out and starts playing bonk beep bonk beep "Purple Haze" and you're grooving along and then look up and realize you did it out loud and everybody is staring at you?

Er

Me neither, just sayin...ahem

[adriennui]

23. it's a miserable song

it is impossible to sing and so awkward. so many better ways to represent our country without appearing jingoistic.

[Cobalt Violet]

24. I hate America the Beautiful, too much god and sexism.

[librechik]

36. yes, but it worships a pagan god, Nature

which I find more democratic than the Anthem, which seems to be worshipping the War God. Simply becasue of that the Anthem is more sexist than anything I can remember in the America the Beautiful lyrics.

(my thread is somewhat frivolous--I know everyone has differing taste on the National song and I would never force my views on anyone else.) Your point is well taken.

[splat@14]

25. Hendrix did okay with it....n/t

:hi:

[Adelante]

28. I like "America the Beautiful" way more as a national anthem

But I am fucking astonished that so many people don't know the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner." Don't kids sing it in school anymore?

[TomClash]

41. D'accord nt

[Retrograde]

52. Have you ever heard 3rd graders sing the SSB?

"Don't kids sing it in school anymore?"

Merciful teachers probably cut them off early - it's a difficult song for little voices, and it's murder on the ears of any listeners.

[Igel]

29. It's a drinking song.

Beauty's not required. Gusto is.

http://www.colonialmusic.org/Resource/Anacreon.htm

The observation's been made that the older and more honored music is, the more staid and more slowly it's played--so a lot of 1950s slow Bach actually moves along brisky. Think of the SSB as a drinking song, find a good pitch, put the words--'original' or Key's--in front of you, knock down a few beers, and try belting it out.

Having a guy or two in a group not hit the high or low notes isn't a problem. But you have to be able set the pitch for your voice, not pitch it to a printed score.

AtB is a hymn. Hymns typically have a really restricted range, because a congregation has to sing it, and that has to include tenors and basses, altos and sopranos singing the same notes at once: so they typically rarely exceed the the intersection of the alto/soprano ranges, maybe an octave, maybe a bit more. In the church I attended, "a bit more" would invariably elicit complaints, and if the pitch range was too high or too low we'd transpose it.

(on edit: hit 'submit' by accident) One could argue that a British drinking society's tune is no more suitable than a hymn tune, or a paean to natural beauty no more apt that a paean to victory and the symbol of the country. I've no dog in the fight.

[Acebass]

31. Theodore Roosevelt said...

There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

– Theodore Roosevelt, letter to the American Defense Society (January 3, 1919)

[librechik]

42. yes--too bad so many of us are Republicans or Corporatists first

and Americans second. Teddy the Bull Moose would shudder at the strict party rule which has risen up in the last few years.

I guess the Anthem is more about the flag, and America the Beautiful is more about the country. I would have to say for me that the country is a more stong and concrete allegiance than the flag, which still strikes me as an abstract warlike symbol, a jingoism if you will. I resent the flag sometimes, since it is essentially political and hegemonic, and our politics in this country are brutal. I can't resent the land, which has done nothing but offer itself up to be used by all who need sustenance, without regard to alliances. The land is contiguous from country to country without borders. A flag is meaningless in that context.

Thx for the insight.

[Acebass]

47. Your welcome...

It's really all about interpretation. I feel emotion when I hear our national anthem because of the history behind it and the high ideals it stands for...

In so saying I'm just as discussed at how those ideals have been trampled. It's not about symbolism it's about whats inside each and everyone of us...

[xchrom]

43. well that settles it -- just like the bible.

:eyes:

[Acebass]

46. It's good common sense not a doctrine...n/t

[xchrom]

53. i hope that's your own notion

of common sense.

doesn't work for me.

[Acebass]

57. Thats America for you...

[valerief]

32. I'm surprised BushCo hasn't changed it to

"Jesus Loves Me, This I know" already.

[AwakeAtLast]

35. I can sing it

but I do have a trained operatic voice. I teach my 6th Grade students to sing it as part of their final six weeks with me before they go on to middle school. They have some trouble, but if they have developed their singing voice over the years I have had them, they can do it.

BTW, it must be in the right key for people to comfortably sing it. The mistake most people make is starting out way too high.

:hi:

[librechik]

37. exactly

it's just knowing how to start out--as low as you can reach, a capella, so you can reach the high notes easily later. But the key is key.

[smomfr]

38. ¨ America the Beautiful ¨ sung by Ray Charles

would really get my patriotic juices flowing. That man loved his country.

[Sal Minella]

39. Has anyone written a version in "Bushspeak" yet?

Now, see, I'll essplain
Merkins gotta unnerstan.....

Bushspeak lyric would have no relationship to the meaning/message of Key's original, of course.......

[derby378]

44. That's bullshit

I can sing it just fine. Best if I do it in the key of A, though - that's best for my vocal range.

If your range can cover one and a half octaves, you can sing the National Anthem. Courage!

[goclark]

45. I guess I took it another way

I saw it as a way for the Hispanics that loved our country to translate it to their language to make it easier for Spanish people to understand.

It doesn't bother me.


I like America The Beautiful but I wouldn't mind if it was translated into another language either.


There are a lot of songs that are performed in both languages.

If I wanted something to get upset about something it would be that GEORGE BUSH represents our country,all over the globe, and insults our flag, our people and everyone on the planet by his words and his deeds.

How do you say IMPEACH in as many languages as you can give me!
!

[DanCa]

48. Didn't Elvis come close? (nt)

[shireen]

54. i'm hopelessly sentimental, in all languages

even tho' the lyrics are a bit unusual for a national anthem, I still love it for it's historical value.

* stunned me the other day when he said it should be sung in English. Huh? He can barely speak the language! Anyhow, it doesn't matter what language the national anthem is sung in, as long as it translates correctly.

Now, I would LOVE to hear a rap version of it -- that would be so cool! :)

[Nobody]

55. That's right. I can sing it

AND I can sing the original words if I have a lyrics sheet in front of me. It has 6 verses.

I do have to do a few vocal warmups though to get ready to hit the high notes. But I used to sing in choir, alto, mezzo, and soprano, I've done all three ranges.

[politrix]

59. What's So Great About Overthrowing Your Government, Anyway?

These guys were traitors who overthrew their government for less shit that WE put up with now.

If that's a good thing then, it's really good for all good americans to do now. Otherwise, overthrowing your government because of taxes is criminal. Unless you kill all opposition like they did.

Then, that means 'might is right' and fuck law. So, the whole concept of founding fathers is inconsistent and hypocritical. You either obey laws or protest them peacefully - or, you kill representatives of your government when they bug you too much, like in Waco, etc.

All I see are slave-owning traitors. When we find a man who's been kidnapping women, keeping them as slaves, we're horrified - but, we deify these demons who would hold a people in human bondage, rape, whip, work and kill them.

They get holidays and coins and cities, etc. - when they're just stinking rapists. I hear liberals get up in arms about one rape case but, I never see them acknowledge that it was nothing great about our slave-owning, rapist forefathers.

IF they'dve lost, slavery would've been abolished sooner and the freed blacks might not have gone thru all the Klan shit. I say that because euro blacks didn't have to deal with it.

I don't see how black people can be happy 'our' side won. They just kept them in bondage longer than England did and then perpetrated some of the most vicious hate campaigns upon them this world has ever seen. Reconstruction was a bitch - it ould've been better to be in England.

It would've been better for blacks for England to win. Even now.

So, that flag, that constitution, that anthem, etc. were about white people and I find them all offensive. And, I'll know racism is getting better when they are all replaced with symbols that reflect black people, native peoples, etc.

And, when they take those slave-owner rapists off our money and stop teaching our kids that they were IN ANY WAY 'great'. They were as despicable as any men that kidnap and hold human beings in bondage. They were downright heinous in a powdered wig.