The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics were written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland by British ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. It became well known as a patriotic song to the tune of a popular English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." While it was recognized for official use by the United States Navy (1889) and by the White House (1916), it was made the national anthem by a Congressional resolution on March 3, 1931. Although the song has four verses, only the first is commonly sung today.

Performances and adaptations

The song is notoriously difficult for non-professionals to sing, due to its octave-and-a-half range. Garrison Keillor has frequently campaigned for the performance of the anthem in the original key, G major, which can, in fact, be sung by most average singers without difficulty. Humorist Richard Armour referenced the song's difficulty in his book It All Started With Columbus:

Related Topics:
Octave - Garrison Keillor - G major - Richard Armour

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:"In an attempt to take Baltimore, the British attacked Fort McHenry, which protected the harbor. Bombs were soon bursting in air, rockets were glaring, and all in all it was a moment of great historical interest. During the bombardment, a young lawyer named Francis "Off" Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner, and when, by the dawn's early light, the British heard it sung, they fled in terror!"

Related Topics:
Baltimore - British - Fort McHenry - Francis "Off" Key - The Star-Spangled Banner

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Professional singers have been known to forget the words, which is one reason why the song is so often pre-recorded and lip-synched. This situation was lampooned in the comedy film, The Naked Gun, as its star Leslie Nielsen, undercover as an opera singer at a ball game, made mincemeat of the lyrics.

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The pre-recording of the anthem has become standard practice at some ballparks (such as Fenway Park) in order to prevent a "Roseanne incident"; actress Roseanne Barr performed the song in San Diego on July 25, 1990, and her screechy rendition (complete with spitting and crotch-grabbing in an imitation of a baseball player) raised a few eyebrows and triggered changes in the way the song is presented.

Related Topics:
Fenway Park - Roseanne Barr - San Diego - July 25 - 1990 - Baseball

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Wayne Messmer, the Chicago Cubs public address announcer, occasionally presents his stirring rendition at Wrigley Field, wherein he ends on two rising notes, rather than dropping down the scale as the song is normally done. And unlike many of the artists who turn it into a "performance", with pauses at their own discretion that make it impossible for the audience to sing along, Messmer does it "straight".

Related Topics:
Wayne Messmer - Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Field

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