A song critique of The Star-Spangled Banner
In becoming more aware of great songwriting I would like give my evaluation of this great song of victorious hope we’ve sung by memory all our lives:
O SAY [this line is saying Hello? Can I have your attention?]
CAN YOU SEE [can you identify the same thing I see? Even though you’re not really there. Can you picture it with me?]
BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT [this is possessive noun that shows ownership by adding an apostrophe, an “s”. It’s interesting that the end of the story is already being told to us. This makes us want to know more of what happened before this]
WHAT SO PROUDLY WE HAILED [When we hail something we: cheer, salute, acclaim; approve enthusiastically. Francis Scott key who witnessed from a ship in the harbor as the British fired upon a Baltimore fort was proud to still see the flag flying by the light of explosions of the cannon balls. I can hear the cheers as if a crowd was watching a firework show]
AT THE TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING? [again with a possessive noun telling us it was dark hours before this. I looked up the word gleaming: to shine with or as if with subdued steady light or moderate brightness. 2 : to appear briefly or faintly a light gleamed in the distance. This boy did his homework! In completing the question we have identified when it took place, that there are other people there and what they were feeling at the time]
WHOSE BROAD STRIPES AND BRIGHT STARS [this line a matter for those advanced songwriters out there. It’s a double alliteration which means: a repetition of letters and sounds in this case the two B’s and the two S’s. We are now told what it was they so proudly hailed last night. Describing the stripes as broad has the underlying meaning of strength bright gives stars a meaning of clarity, shining, a bright future]
THROUGH THE PERILOUS FIGHT [the outcome of this battle is yet to be decided. The people who were defending the fort must’ve had a terrible night with much death]
O'ER THE RAMPARTS WE WATCHED, [this is interesting. I always thought ramparts was the railings of a ship. A rampart is a wall that is built to protect a fort. So they were watching what was happening on the inside of the fort. Huh who would of known?]
WERE SO GALLANTLY STREAMING [identifying that the flag was still blowing in the wind. Now a flag itself cannot be gallant but the soldiers protecting that flag were the brave ones]
AND THE ROCKET'S RED GLARE, THE BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR [Now we’re taken back into the past again and we’re given another gift of a double alliteration. Amazing! ps. I guess they already had rockets back then instead of the cannons]
GAVE PROOF THROUGH THE NIGHT THAT OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE [this is the payoff line or the satisfying conclusion usually found at the end of the chorus. It provides the emotional punch, or surprise, and adds impact to the lines that precedes it. It is the line that ties the whole song together like a bow.
O SAY [again with Hello? Can I have your attention?]
DOES THAT STAR-SPANGLED BANNER YET WAVE [ the writer is asking you in the present time you are in: Is it still there? Spangled what an interesting word besides using another alliteration it tells us it’s glistening, gleaming, shining. Something to admire like a diamond clear and strong. I’m glad the writer didn’t use the redundant word FLAG but renamed it banner which is a cloth that carries a message and design that is hung in a public place.
O'ER THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE What land is this? The one we’re standing on. We are tied to the land. Land is important to our identity. It provides all of our needs, gives us a home and supports our family, brings us security. The writer here tells us that this is the place that is free of the monarchy when he wrote it, but also for all future citizens. Using the word BRAVE identifies with the people in the fort as well as future citizens. The word also says, hey, don’t mess with us. We’ll stand up for our freedom here. It’s important to us. This is the huge grand final payoff of the song. Musically FREE is held a long time. Then HOME is held out while OF THE are accented 16th notes to drive it home to a held BRAVE.
ps. I understand that currently in 2020 there are folks that want to replace the national anthem with John Lennon’s song for peace, ‘Imagine. Well that’s another can of worms to leave unopened. In this day and age it’s against political correctness to say you should stand proudly to salute a flag that so many have died for while singing this song. Whoops, now the worms are out of that can! I have written a couple of anthems about the flag myself: Have a listen here:
https://youtu.be/yY6F0F45yKA FABRIC OF AMERICA
https://youtu.be/Tzaz-iRV0yY I’LL STAND UP FOR YOU
Other Websites for John Bennett:
https://www.reverbnation.com/507197
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB8kZ_1SeK4wsNtEoYwlEzCbGVt0XA6ny
https://soundcloud.com/storehousepro
https://www.facebook.com/storehousepro/
1 comment:
I think your review is well done, but it only discusses the first verse. The third verse is especially troubling because it contains these words.
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 wash'd out their foul footstep's 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.
Obviously, we don’t sing the 3rd verse, but the sentiment still exists. Why do we have to accept the first verse as the standard for patriotism? What’s wrong with evaluating the validity of a 200 year old poem using today’s standards. I’m not saying replace it, but I’m saying look at the contextual nature of the entire piece and use it as a tool to show that we can evolve and become even stronger as a nation.
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