# Do you know all the words to the "Star-Spangled Banner"? (The USA national anthem) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198 "2018-01-09T03:15:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/21 "2018-01-09T11:39:39Z")
No. But I’m from Australia/Japan. And I thought it was called “Star-Spangled Spanner”. Do we use the verb ‘to spangle’ too infrequently? “Yes sir, I recall it perfectly! Last Sunday at five pm I was spangling the wainscoating in the lodge.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/22 "2018-01-09T11:49:52Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > no, but they used Pemán’s lyrics. Shrug, not official. There are a bunch of unofficial lyrics but they don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/23 "2018-01-09T12:08:00Z")
All four verses! ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/24 "2018-01-09T12:21:43Z")
I know the words to all four verses, mostly thanks to Jerry Pournelle. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/25 "2018-01-09T13:09:54Z")
I know every word of all four verses. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/26 "2018-01-09T13:18:19Z")
Pretty confident I know all of the first verse, but I have to consciously make myself not sing the [Frank Drebin version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCc1DzRAgQ) (and I sing about that well too). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/27 "2018-01-09T13:20:36Z")
No box for all \*four \*verses, not two, but that’s my entry. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/28 "2018-01-09T13:22:22Z")
UK citizen, knew the first line and the last 2 lines of the first verse, (chose couple of lines in the poll) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/29 "2018-01-09T13:27:21Z")
I know the first verse. The new mayor of St Paul knows all four, and he wanted the third verse sung at his inauguration, because he said it was an ode to slavery, so he wanted to include it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/30 "2018-01-09T13:36:02Z")
I like _To Anacreon in Heaven_, the original song, because it’s got the words ‘risible phiz’ in it. If I didn’t already have a Doper name, I’d use that one. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/31 "2018-01-09T13:48:57Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I exaggerated. I know the first verse completely, and I can make a clumsy stab at some verses from the next three. They’re bloody awful, with the lyrics falling badly into the rhythm of the music. eg. “With the foes haughTEEEEE host…” > > You didn’t have any options between “knowing verse one completely” and knowing all the verses completely. > [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > All four verses! > [@RikWriter](#): > > I know the words to all four verses, mostly thanks to Jerry Pournelle. > [@terentii](#): > > I know every word of all four verses. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > No box for all \*four \*verses, not two, but that’s my entry. My sincere apologies for not including “all four verses” among the options. I salute you folks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/32 "2018-01-09T14:12:39Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > …I was spangling the wainscoating in the lodge." Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/33 "2018-01-09T14:45:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Colibri** : > > The joke used to go that to detect a spy you would ask them to sing the second verse of the Star-spangled Banner. A spy would have memorized it, but no actual American would know it. That’s due to Asimov, too, who made it the plot of one of his short stories. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/34 "2018-01-09T15:24:03Z")
Sure the OP means stanza, not verse. I’m not American and I know it. Gets sung at all the Blue Jays games. It’s not the hardest thing in the world to remember. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/35 "2018-01-09T15:36:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Sure the OP means stanza, not verse. > > I’m not American and I know it. Gets sung at all the Blue Jays games. It’s not the hardest thing in the world to remember. And most hockey games which is why I (also in Canada) know it. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/36 "2018-01-09T16:43:00Z")
I know the first verse (live in, and was raised in, USA, Georgia). I don’t ever sing it–it feels…wrong. Facing the flag and singing a song and putting your hand over your heart feels like I am in the old pictures of Nazi Germany before the war (Don’t mention the war). Mind, I also refused to do the pledge of allegiance in grade school, which is about 10x more objectionable and questionable. Fortunately, I went to a school that allowed me to stand, and be silent, and I was not required to say it, or act like a Nazi. (If anyone is curious why i would say or feel that, then this: [Bellamy salute - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute)) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/37 "2018-01-09T16:47:18Z")
I have never in my life heard it sung past the first verse. And, trust me, you don’t want to hear \*me \*do it. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/38 "2018-01-09T18:36:01Z")
At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute – right hand lifted, palm downward, to align with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” At the words, “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side. — From The Youth’s Companion, 65 (1892): 446–447. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/39 "2018-01-09T18:53:54Z")
I just typed the whole thing to make sure I knew it… the parts I got closest to screwing up were the various prepositions… ie, I almost put “O’er the perilous fight” instead of “through the perilous fight”. I also tried it both ways to make sure I got broad stripes and bright stars in the right order. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198/40 "2018-01-09T23:35:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I have never in my life heard it sung past the first verse. And, trust me, you don’t want to hear \*me \*do it. Now, of course, we all want an audio file uploaded. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-all-the-words-to-the-star-spangled-banner-the-usa-national-anthem/806198.md?page=3)