# Abbreviated (U.S.) National Anthem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998 "2003-11-13T07:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/1 "2003-11-13T07:58:04Z")
I don’t _think_ this is Cafe Society material—at least, not abruptly. Excuse me if I’m wrong. I’ve seen it in a couple of movies where the National Anthem was played before a sporting event, but with the _And the rockets’ red glare_ bit excluded. Is this merely dramatic license, or was/is this actually done? ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/2 "2003-11-13T07:59:51Z")
Edit: That is, the bit _beginning_ with _And the rockets’ red glare_ and resuming with _‘Oh say does that…’_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/3 "2003-11-13T13:18:05Z")
Either dramatic licence, or a way to hide the fact the singer couldn’t hit the high notes. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/4 "2003-11-13T14:24:12Z")
I’d say that it’s cut out because they’ve got an incompetent singer. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/5 "2003-11-13T14:41:44Z")
I don’t know why not hitting the high notes would be a big deal. Enrico Palazzo couldn’t do it either. Then again, he didn’t even know the words. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/6 "2003-11-13T15:04:02Z")
If the high notes were a problem they’d cut out “And the land of the free”, which has as high a note on “free” as there are on the two words “red glare”. Gotta be something else. Maybe just not wanting to play the whole national anthem for reasons of time or provoking outcry from some patriotic groups who’d lament the commercial abuse of the national anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Robbbbb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Robbbbb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robbbbb)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/7 "2003-11-13T16:55:57Z")
Probably just edited for brevity. Face it, “The Star-Spangled Banner” is a long, boring song. Everyone knows it. Why bother wasting movie/TV time doing the whole thing, when the entire audience knows exactly what it is already. Except for the version in “Naked Gun.” Although, actually, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has multiple verses, so I doubt that very many people have actually heard the entire thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/8 "2003-11-13T19:18:43Z")
On the other side of the coin, there’s Bleeding Gums Murphy’s 28-minute “extended” version in [The Simpsons](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F05.html). Of course, they didn’t show all of it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![hyjyljyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abbreviated-u-s-national-anthem/212998/9 "2003-11-14T17:46:20Z")
Everyone knows what? I timed my version, which has a tempo slightly slower than that used by military bands. It took 1:05. Singers at sporting events are highlighting their singing ability (Leslie Nielsen notwithstanding), so they tend to drag it out to, oh, 1:30 or 1:45. Not THAT bloody long unless you just don’t like the song, in which case 10 seconds is too long.