"The Star-Spangled Banner" (National Anthem)
Every country has their own national anthem, and this is America's. It is full of outdated words for you people (spangled? gleaming?) and a difficult melody that ascends to a high E-flat. Despite calls for easier, more accessible songs ("This land is my land" for one), it persists, possibly because of those inspirational lyrics (and last line: "'O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave") and beautiful tune attributed to John Stafford Smith. Francis Scott Key was serving on a military assignment in the War of 1812; on September 14, 1814, he witnessed the bombardment of Ft. McHenry by the British, and the American flag continues to fly high above. That is the simple story being told in the first verse (and only verse we ever sing) of this anthem.
Source: Morgan, Then Sings My Soul (W Publishing, 2011).
Score: Star-Spangled Banner sheet music
Choir: The Community Choristers, Hymn Camp 2026
Piano: Lisa Ginn
Recorded at Central United Methodist Church; sung to open the Richmond Flying Mummies baseball game, June 28, 2026
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- Part 6: Patriotic Songs Alisa Clapp-Itnyre