“The Rainbow Connection,” or possibly “I’m Going to Go Back There Some Day.”
No way is the U.S. national anthem changing.
Which is fine for me, I love the Star Spangled Banner.
I find the usual favored alternative, “America the Beautiful,” to be cloying tripe.
Hard to sing? Nonsense. Take some music classes.
He didn’t quite make it through all of them, but here and here are where the Mightygodking blog sets out to review every national anthem. Pretty funny stuff.
The current one has God in it too, in the Fifth and final verse. It’s the fourth verse that makes me love it though.
-
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 washed out their foul footsteps’ 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! -
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 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!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but Power and Glory should be our national anthem.
Just how do you plant to “tweak” these lyrics?
It’s a song specifically about class conflict. It’s very name suggests that using it as a national anthem would be a pretty ridiculous thing to do…
I chose America the Beautiful but I also really like This Land is Your Land. Hell, I’d vote for Little Pink Houses, anything but that monstrosity we’re stuck with.
Well, instead of “cannibals”, we could say “zombie flesh-eaters”…
I vote for New World Man, by Rush.
Let’s keep The Star Spangled Banner. I can’t imagine any other anthem. (Besides, doesn’t it give you chills listening to Hendrix’s rendition of it at Woodstock?)
The Battle Hymn of the Republic? No way, I keep thinking of the lyrics we used to sing at Girl Scout camp:
*I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it’s hot
And I wear my flannel pjs in the winter when it’s not
And sometimes in the spring and sometimes in the the fall
I jump between the covers with nothing on at all
Glory glory hallujuh!
Glory glory what’s it to ya?
Glory glory hallujah
It’s great with nothin’ on at all!
*
And of course, if they used The Stars and Stripes Forever, everyone would be singing, “Be kind to your web-footed friends, 'cause a duck maybe somebody’s mother…”
No way, keep it as it is! And My Country Tis of Thee (by the way, the correct name is actually America) is the British national anthem, and we fought a war to get away from those bloody bastards!!! Screw that!
(I do think Iceland though should adopt “The Immigrant Song”)
(Now if I were starting an entirely new country somewhere, I’d use the “Imperial March”–AKA the “Darth Vader Theme”–from the Star Wars movies. No lyrics, but who needs 'em?)
Oh, speak for yourself.
(Most people don’t know the whole thing.)
I don’t understand why this discussion comes up so often–like some kind of national neurosis. It’s one of the few anthems with some melodic and lyrical subtlety.
I’ve also always found it easy to sing, but I would never suggest that people need to get voice lessons in order to sing what is supposed to be a universal song.
Also, for the edification of this thread, I figured out the range of each of songs in the poll. The columns on the right name both the interval*, (which is how range is usually expressed) and in half-steps for those who want to just count the keys (both black and white) on a piano.
**Song Range: Interval Halfsteps**
America the Beautiful M9 15
Battle Cry of Freedom P8 13
Battle Hymn of the Republic P8 13
Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean m10 16
God Bless America M9 15
Hail, Colombia M9 15
The Internationale m9 14
The Liberty Song P12 20
Lift Every Voice and Sing M9 15
My Country 'Tis of Thee m7 11
The Star Spangled Banner P12 20*
Stars and Stripes Forever* m13 21*
This Land Is Your Land m7 11
Yankee Doodle m9 14
* * In all the vocal versions of "Stars and Stripes Forever" that I have heard,
the wide range is [split](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCplg71Ne2o) between different voices, [and](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglWth784uU)/or the brief low parts
are rewritten to bring the range down to a *p12 (20)* – including the original
[vocal sheet music](http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/b/b03/b0367/b0367-1-72dpi.html) released in 1898 by the composer himself.*
Remember that P8 (13) is an octave, so, for example, a M9 is an octave plus a major 2nd, and the corresponding 15 is an octave plus 2 piano notes.
Oh, and links in green are video links.
Lyrical I’ll give you, but melodic? The barreling through the triads is probably the most distinct part of the song. It sounds like a sung march–despite being in 3/4 time.
Don’t get me wrong–I love the song, as it is quite theatrical, but I understand why a lot of people don’t. The best key I can put it in is G, and I know a lot of people who can’t sing that low G or high D. (In fact, choose that key because I know more people who can’t hit the low G, which is much less important than the high D.)
I vote for the Star Spangled Banner, it’s a great song. If you have a hard time singing it, I dunno, try singing it more often, you get better with practice!
And it’s more than just “Boom boom there’s our flag”, it’s a song about the victorious American defense of the port of Baltimore soon after the British had burned Washington, D.C. and taken several other cities, making this battle a major turning point in the War of 1812 (the British forces withdrew from the area after this battle, and attempted to try their hand again at New Orleans).
Why, if we hadn’t turned them back at Fort McHenry, we’d all be speaking English right now. And I hate the Germanic languages!
Which part of “America the Beautiful” do you want to use? Most Americans are just familiar with the above the fruited plains part which makes for a great travel brochure but for a poor anthem. Then there’s that pesky problem of “God shared his grace with thee” repeated over and over. I like “Battle Hymn of the Republic” but, wow, what a song. Loads of religious imagery that would displease a whole lot of people.
The difference is that nobody has been telling Iowans for years that they have no right to exist. Nobody has been denied equal rights under the law for being Iowan. Not even comparable. So, I’m sorry, the analogy fails. If America isn’t about being the land of opportunity and liberation from oppression, well then what is the point of it all anyway?
But I’d seriously like to thank Iowa for marriage equality. That was well done. Two thumbs up, Cornhuskers!
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” often considered the African-American national anthem, was also written by and for people with a history of centuries of bitter oppression for being who they are. The lyrics are the most inspirational of any of the songs on the list, and this song has done a lot over the years to inspire work for equal rights. It has an interesting melody with a variety of melodic figures, and just enough range to heighten the dramatic feel without becoming too hard to sing.
Never heard of “Battle Cry of Freedom.” The title sounds aggressive.
What about “Og shed His/Her/Its grace on thee”?
ETA: Not that I think we would actually say “His/Her/Its,” as that fucks up the rhythm of the line, but we’d have to decide which to sing.
Depending on the mood I’m in and how disillusioned I am about its failures to live up to its potential…
Bloodrock, “America, America”
or if some state like, say, Arizona, had just passed a disgusting law, perhaps this one…
N. Sedaka, “The Immigrant”
… but seriously and genuinely most of the time “America the Beautiful”.
The Internationale, 'cause I like its music best. If you’re wanting me to actually consider, like, context and stuff, America. 'Cause I already know the words and, unlike The Star Spangled Banner, it actually sounds decent when sung.