# We Need a New National Anthem **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208 "2001-11-13T23:45:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/21 "2001-11-15T22:59:55Z")
Half in jest, half seriously… I’m not a fan of the SSB, but I don’t expect R&RII will replace it. Picking a real replacement – I’d go with “This Land is Our Land”. Woodie Guthrie wrote and sang it. For a long time it was denounced as “communist”, maybe it still is for all I know. Great song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/22 "2001-11-16T01:11:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Um, I’d rather my anthem wasn’t written by a pedophile. > \*\* **Actually it was written by two guys named C. Midnight and D. Hartman. And James Brown has had some scrapes with the law, but this is the first I’ve heard of any pedophilia.** \*\* [/QUOTE] Whoa, that’s a relief! Seriously, I was all ready to get really upset because I thought you guys were dissin’ my man Francis Scott Key. I had a big crush on him when I was a little kid… okay, I still do. (I saw an engraving of him at my grandmother’s house when I was like six and was smitten forever after, heh.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/23 "2001-11-16T14:37:46Z")
I think “The Maine Stein Song” would make a great national anthem, though it’d need new lyrics. It’s about halfway down this page: [http://www.laurasmidiheaven.com/Sports-Schools.shtml](http://www.laurasmidiheaven.com/Sports-Schools.shtml) Dignified yet peppy, and **easy** to sing! As regards existing anthems, I like Italy’s the best. ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/24 "2001-11-28T06:33:59Z")
How about The Clash’s “I’m So Bored With The USA”? No? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/25 "2001-11-28T07:19:33Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by royjwood \* > \*\* You will sing about people who could no longer live under the tyranny of a cruel king and who risked everything to ensure that their descendants could live in a better world._\* George III was a tyrant and cruel king? He was sort of prudish, and stubborn, and as he got older he started talking to furniture, but I don’t know that he was particularly cruel. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/26 "2001-11-28T18:55:45Z")
Haven’t you ever read the list of all the mean and nasty things he did in the Declaration of Independence? What, not an objective enough source? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/27 "2001-11-28T21:02:40Z")
“To Anacreon in Heav’n” is a lousy tune. (Hee hee, **Cornflakes**. I nominate something with some funk in the trunk, like “One Nation Under A Groove” by Parliament/Funkadelic. ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/28 "2001-11-29T07:46:48Z")
I like the SSB just fine as the National Anthem. But I must admit that I wouldn’t be disappointed if we all came to an unstated agreement not to actually _sing_it–it works a lot better as an instrumental. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/29 "2001-11-29T14:51:18Z")
\*\*Jackmannii \<\<\\>\>\*\* Thought you might like to know that Mrs. Heap and I used this as our wedding song. Absolutely beeeeeyyyooootiful. Also, **cornflakes** , I thought that was hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/30 "2001-11-29T19:12:28Z")
I’m not for dropping _The Star-Spangled Banner_; I find it stirring, and I like both the words and the music. Yes, it’s a bear to sing, but so many good things are difficult. If we had to drop it, though, I’d push for _Mainstream USA_ by They Might Be Giants. My favorite part: _Mainstream USA, I flipped that guy the bird. Mainstream USA, That’s all I wanna say._ It’s a brash, obnoxious, and largely incoherent song. Beats the hell out of _God Bless America_, which I never could stand. Another favorite national anthem is France’s _Les Marseillaise_. Like _The Star-Spangled Banner_, its lyrics and music are both stirring. The bit about the gutters running with the blood of the impure is simply spectacular. Its verses are all brimming with passion and the tune is rousing. On second thought, if we have to change our national anthem, let’s use that one! ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/31 "2001-11-29T19:51:10Z")
\>\> The bit about the gutters running with the blood of the impure is simply spectacular. You gotta be kidding. You ever hear of Political correctness? They had to rename the Washington Bullets because the name was too violent. \>\> On second thought, if we have to change our national anthem, let’s use that one! Does it come with the “vin rouge”? Ok then. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/32 "2001-11-29T19:59:37Z")
If we get a new anthem, I don’t care what it is as long as Lee Greenwood is in no way connected to it. BTW: Hey Canada, what’s with this “Oh Christmas Tree” stuff anyhow? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_The\_Bold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208/33 "2001-11-30T03:10:15Z")
Perhaps the theme to “The Dukes of Hazzard” would be appropriate. As a bonus at sporting events, the crowd would have to shout “yeeha!” at the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-need-a-new-national-anthem/93208.md?page=1)