Booze, Blood, and the Star-Spangled Banner
(Page 3 of 3)
May / June 2006
Jack El-Hai Utne magazine
If it ever were possible to dethrone Key's song, finding the
right replacement will be tricky. The most powerful national
anthems -- like France's and Russia's, which give you chills and
keep ringing in your ears -- tread a fine line between sentiment
and clich?. 'You can't be obtuse, and you need to be direct,' says
Gene Scheer, a composer whose best-known work, a song called
'American Anthem,' was performed at the 2005 inauguration of
President George W. Bush. 'You mustn't underestimate your audience
-- people aren't stupid, and they know when they're being pandered
to. You can't calculate your way to a good song. It has to be an
honest expression of what you're thinking, and it involves emotion
and the best aspects of your intellect.'
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'I still get a tingle up my spine when I hear 'The Star-Spangled
Banner,' but I feel better when I hear and sing 'America the
Beautiful,' ' says Lynn Sherr, ABC news correspondent and author of
America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind Our Nation's
Favorite Song (PublicAffairs, 2001). 'That song fills my eyes with
tears, something I don't get from 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'' Many
agree with Sherr, but the difficulty is satisfying everyone's view
of what America represents. Some citizens want a song that shows
defiance in the face of outside threats, as the 'The Star-Spangled
Banner' does. Others want a tribute to our country's
distinctiveness, an evocation of spirituality, or simply a song
that feels emotionally gratifying to sing. Is there a substitute
anthem that meets all of these requirements?
The top contenders to replace 'The Star-Spangled Banner'(see
sidebar) include many lovely songs that, by and large, are falling
into disuse. 'We Shall Overcome,' however -- an ode to
determination and courage and American ideals if ever there was one
-- is widely known by children and adults alike. Perhaps that civil
rights-era hymn, or some new song that sneaks into our
consciousness, will be the one to inspire a future generation to
rethink our national tune.
Jack El-Hai is the author of The Lobotomist: A Maverick
Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental
Illness (Wiley, 2005).
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