Star Spangled Banner, US National Anthem Explanation
The Star Spangled Banner’s lyrics were written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. The lyrics came from a poem he wrote entitled The Defense of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.
John Stafford Smith wrote a popular British song and the tune was used with Key’s lyrics replacing the original. The song became a popular patriotic song and was later adopted as the United States’ National Anthem in 1931.
The song is quite difficult to sing and while it actually has four stanzas, typically only the first is sung. The lyrics are:
O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Similarly to the Pledge of Allegiance, many people have grown up singing the National Anthem without really knowing what it means. When teaching the song to your children, take the time to explain exactly what it means:
O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
Hey, can you see this morning
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
What we saw and were so amazed by and proud of last night
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
The flag that, through all the dangerous fighting
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
We could still see standing strong and waving?
O say can you see by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
Last night, as the sun was setting, we could still see the flag waving. We were so proud of this! Is it still there this morning?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Throughout the fighting bombs, guns and cannons are going off and their explosions are lighting the night sky
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
The light from the explosions showed us that indeed, our flag was still standing!
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
Yes, our flag IS still standing
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Over our land, the land of free willing to fight bravely for their freedom: The United States of America!
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
The bombs, guns and cannons exploded in the night, giving off enough light to see that the flag was still standing. Our flag which stands for our country, the home of free people willing to fight for that freedom bravely. The United States of America.
One of the most popular versions of the National Anthem was sung by now deceased pop star Whitney Houston. You can hear her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner here:
