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Of Thee I Sing a New Song
I think about tomatoes often. Partially because I’m a New Jerseyan of Italian descent that fulfills his duty of eating pasta every Sunday with his family. That meal (of course) includes a delicious tomato-based sauce prepared by my father. My tomato-centric thoughts are also driven by another fact, though. Tomatoes haven’t been used in Italian cuisine for that long.
The modern tomato was first bred and harvested in the Americas. They didn’t make their way to Europe until after Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in the late-1400s. Even after they made their way to the Italian peninsula, they weren’t used regularly in food for hundreds of years. In fact, between 1500 and 1800, if you saw a tomato on an Italian table, it was likely a decoration. It was only after 1800 that the fruit was integrated into the cuisine of the region, thus setting the stage for my family’s weekly tradition.
This tale is a good reminder that some things we consider cultural traditions really aren’t that old. Ancient Romans, for example, weren’t cooking up chicken parmesan over spaghetti. For that matter, chicken parm originated in the United States in the 1950s. This idea, along with the fact that today is Independence Day in the United States, got me thinking about another thing that feels like it should be ancient but isn’t: national anthems.
The oldest national anthems have only been around for a few hundreds years with most states currently recognized by the United Nations only establishing them in the last century. This development was driven by a few factors:
Nation-States: During the 19th century, ethnic groups began to organize themselves around central political bodies. Driven by patriotism for their newly established states, some of these nations formally established national anthems. For example, a few decades after winning their freedom from the Ottoman Empire, Greece established their national anthem, “Hymn to Liberty”.
The Olympics: Since 1932, the national anthem of each Olympic event’s winner has been played during the medalling ceremony. There was an explosion of countries formalizing their national anthems after this.
Decolonization: As the colonial empires of the British, the French, and a few other nations began to unwind during the second half of the 20th century, the newly liberated nations sought to establish their own identifies with anthems.
As time has gone on, national anthems have become deeply embedded in the cultural consciousness of nations, being played at everything from sporting events to political rallies. These songs have not been without controversy, though. Over the last decade, there has been a growing choir of voices in the United States pushing for a change to our nation anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Much of the controversy in the United States is focused on the song’s lyricist, Francis Scott Key. Key, a prominent lawyer born just after the American Revolution, was a slave owner for much of his life. Furthermore, during his legal career, he represented owners of runaway slaves and worked against abolition. Probably not the guy you want having written the lyrics to your country’s national anthem.
I’m not really convinced by this argument, though. Key’s actions are reprehensible. But after almost two centuries and thousands of performances, the thing that matters about “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a national anthem is the song itself rather than its long-dead lyricist. Still, I do think its time for the United States to update their national anthem. Let me explain why.
#1 It’s Too Hard to Sing
With a melody spanning about an octave-and-a-half, “The Star-Spangled Banner” is incredibly difficult to sing. I don’t think a song that is performed so frequently should require the pipes of Whitney Houston to pull off. National anthems are for the people.
#2 It’s Not Representative of America’s Musical History
Nearly every major genre of music founded in America — excluding some types of jazz — is based around a four-beat meter. “The Star-Spangled Banner” is not. It is in 3/4 time. There are many classic American songs in 3/4, but I think our anthem should reflect the meter that has accompanied most of our musical innovation.
#3 The Music was Written by a British Man
While Francis Scott Key gets all of the credit as the mind behind “The Star-Spangled Banner”, he only wrote the words. The music was composed by John Stafford Smith. Smith, a British composer, didn’t write the music specifically for Key’s poem, though. He wrote it for “To Anacreon in Heaven”, the official song of an 18th century gentleman’s club that happened to be popular in the United States. Having won our independence from Britain, it feels sacrilegious to have our national anthem partially composed by one of their citizens.
#4 The Lyrical Content is Questionable
On the surface, the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” seem well-suited for a national anthem. The song is about the American flag and, thus, the American nation surviving an attack. Sounds good. But “The Star-Spangled Banner” actually has three additional verses, one of which mentions slavery (i.e., “No refuge could save the hireling and slave / From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.”)
Furthermore, with lines like “O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?” the lyrics are very British in style and feel. Again, I think America’s national anthem should be representative of the nation’s American-ness not its British heritage.
#5 It’s Hard to Reinterpret the Song
From jazz improvisation to hip-hop sampling, one of the through lines of American music is reinterpretation. Beyond notable versions by Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, and José Feliciano, “The Star-Spangled Banner” does not lend itself to reinterpretation. In fact, people often get angry when an artist makes any slight change to the song. Our nation’s anthem shouldn’t be that stylistically inflexible.
I could go on. But I think belaboring the point would distract from maybe the key tenant of my argument. “The Star-Spangled Banner” just isn’t a good song. To quote Frank Sinatra from a 1969 article: “It’s a terrible piece of music. If you took a poll among singers, it would lose a hundred to nothing.” The soaring melody is bloated with pomp and lacking in emotional resonance. The lyrics are clunky and, to quote Sinatra again, focused on “guns and bombs and all that jazz.”
“Chris,” you may say, “we can’t change the national anthem. It’s part of who we are as a country.” I disagree. First, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has only been the official national anthem of the United States since 1931. George Washington won’t roll over in his grave if we nixed it. Second, we are allowed to change things even if they seem traditional. If the Italians rejected the tomato because it hadn’t been around since the Roman Republic, then we wouldn’t have the deliciousness of pasta in all its saucy varieties.
There is precedent for changing a national anthem too. Just this year, Nigeria changed their national anthem, albeit somewhat controversially. Other countries have also made smaller edits, like when Canada changed the line “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command” in 2018 in order to promote gender equality in their anthem. We can change things if we want to. With that in mind, what options do we have among classic patriotic songs?
“Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Written during the Civil War by Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragette, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” is an adaption of an earlier folk number popular in the late 18th- and early-19th centuries. The song uses rapturous Christian imagery to tell how the Union will live on.
If you insist that the creator of the a national anthem be an upstanding citizen, there might not be a better choice than “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. I also like how the song evolved within American’s folk tradition. Given the separation of church and state, it’s religious imagery might be a bit too heavy handed, though.
“Fanfare for the Common Man”
Composed in response to America’s entry into World War II, Aaron Copland’s fanfare was inspired by Vice President Henry A. Wallace’s declaration that we had entered the “Century of the Common Man”. I love the bombast of this composition, and its focus on the heroism of your average American, but I think people would balk at a fully instrumental national anthem. This would not be unprecedented, though. Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino, and Kosovo all have national anthems with no official words.
“God Bless America”
A nation of immigrants, I can’t think of anything more fitting than a national anthem composed by an immigrant. Irving Berlin, born in the Russian Empire, immigrated to New York City in the late-1800s while he was still a child in order to escape brutal antisemitism throughout Europe. Though he never even graduated high school, Berlin would go on to become one of America’s greatest composers.
“God Bless America”, a hymn he wrote in the lead up to World War II, might be his most well known composition outside of “White Christmas”. And for good reason. It’s slow-building melody is one for the ages. While I wouldn’t call the song particularly easy to sing, it is still more accessible than “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
“This Land is Your Land”
Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your Land” as a critical response to “God Bless America”. Though I like how the vocal melody is easy to sing and was built from an earlier song by The Carter Family, I think people would have a problem with how some of the later verses are critical of the United States (e.g., “In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people / By the relief office I seen my people / As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking / Is this land made for you and me?”)
“My Country Tis of Thee”
Though this was American’s de facto national anthem before “The Star-Spangled Banner”, you’ve got to throw this one out because it is just new lyrics set to “God Save the King”. I don’t think our national anthem can be based on a British tune. Plus, the song is in 3/4, which I’m averse to for an anthem.
“The Stars and Stripes Forever”
Currently, the national march of the United States, this would be a completely valid choice. That said, the often unsung lyrics are sort of clunky. Personally, I prefer hymn-based national anthems to march-based national anthems.
“You’re a Grand Old Flag”
Written by George M. Cohan for the musical George Washington, Jr., the chorus of “You’re a Grand Old Flag” is fitting for a national anthem. The verses would be too bizarre for a national anthem, though:
I'm no cranky hanky panky,
I'm a dead square, honest Yankee,
And I'm mighty proud of that old flag that flies for Uncle Sam.
Though I don't believe in raving
Every time I see it waving,
There's a chill runs up my back that makes me glad I'm what I am.
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Referred to as the “Black National Anthem”, this is a strong candidate for the national anthem. The song is filled with beautiful imagery that looks to better days. It was written by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson, two brothers who were civil rights activists. The hymn-like melody is also quite powerful and beckons for reinterpretation.
“America the Beautiful”
Written by social reformer Katharine Lee Bates and composer Samuel A. Ward, “America the Beautiful” is probably the most suggested song to replace “The Star-Spangled Banner”. I understand why. The song isn’t too hard to sing. The melody is not only stunning but can work in a variety of styles. Furthermore, even the lyrics we don’t sing are ideal for a national anthem.
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!
All things considered, I could be convinced into supporting “God Bless America”, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, or “America the Beautiful” as a new national anthem. I don’t suspect we will see a change anytime soon, though. According to a 2020 poll by YouGov, 60% of Americans think the national anthem should remain “The Star-Spangled Banner”. And that’s fine. All I know is that I’ll be spinning ten different renditions of “America the Beautiful” before Independence Day is over.
A New One
"She’s Leaving You" by MJ Lenderman
2024 - Indie Rock
There are 41 lines in MJ Lenderman’s latest alt-country single “She’s Leaving You”. Only 16 of those lines, or 39%, are unique. Put another way, 25 of those lines, or 61%, are repeated. That would make you think that “She’s Leaving You” is redundant. It’s not. The images that Lenderman creates in those 16 lines are all vivid enough to stick with you as he repeats the refrain again-and-again.
An Old One
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" by Ray Charles
1972 - Soul
In 1972, Ray Charles released A Message from the People, a collection of songs broadly focused on America and its people. While I’d be happy listening to Ray Charles sing anything, his reimagination of patriotic classics with the help of producer Quincy Jones and arranger Sid Fellerman will make you wonder why we’ve wasted so many decades singing “The Star-Spangled Banner”. If you’re unconvinced, just listen to Charles’s soulful rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.
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Great piece, Chris. And congrats on having one of Substack’s best selling newsletters! As a longtime anthem singer for the Mets, I concur that The Star-Spangled Banner is not an easy song to sing (especially with a 2 second delay!) In 1989, I was scheduled to sing the anthem the day after Irving Berlin passed away, and instead of singing The Star-Spangled Banner, the Mets asked me to sing God Bless America in his honor. It was pretty special.
I don’t suggest this as a new national anthem, but I’d love to hear baseball games start with the Schoolhouse Rock song where they sing the Preamble to the Constitution.