I am sure all of you witnessed the collective shift to patriotic pride after the devastating attacks on September 11. I always thought that "God Bless America" was overdone (my apologies to Irving Berlin). Don't get me wrong...I love the song...but it is a little ditty written by a brilliant musical theater composer.
I thought it would have been better if we had just adopted singing the fourth verse of Key's Star Spangled Banner...after all, it is our national anthem:
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Thoughts?
Monday, June 8, 2009
We should have adopted this after 9/11
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7 comments:
It's a nice thought, but most people don't know all the words to the national anthem as it is now. How many people would take the time to learn a new verse? Add to that the fact that it's a difficult song to sing even for professionals. I'm a professional and I just tried to put those words to the melody and it was not easy. It's tough to teach an old dog new tricks.
What about the third verse of America, The Beautiful?
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Or, the fourth verse of My Country, 'tis of Thee?
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King.
IHS,
Publius
With apologies, that would be the second verse, not the the third.
Publius...
The first one has the perfect sentiment in the second half, but the first half is historical and does not lend itself well to the reason I suggested we focus on the last verse of Key's poem.
As for the second suggestion...absolutely appropiate, but the tune is the Brittish anthem...I cannot help but hear God Save the Queen every time I hear it! ;-)
Jo...
I have no problems fitting it in or singing it, and I am not a professional! ;-)
Jodi, I'll definitely cede the point that the Star Spangle Banner is not as easy a tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but neither does one need to be Whitney Houston to sing it. Freedom for most of us does come easy...the least we can do it learn the tune. :)
Ronald Reagan once made a radio address related to the perceived need to "make the Bible more readable and understandable" because the King's English of the late 16th century was no longer thought to be relevant. Excerpts from the transcript are as follows:
What would you say if someone decided Shakespeare's plays, Charles Dicken's novels, or the music of Beethoven could be rewritten & improved?
…
Now another attempt has been made to improve it. I say another because there have been several fairly recent efforts to quote "make the Bible more readable & understandable" unquote. But as Mr. Hanser so eloquently says, "For more than 3 1/2 centuries, its language and its images, have penetrated more deeply into the general culture of the English speaking world, and been more dearly treasured, than anything else ever put on paper." He then quotes the irreverent H. L. Mencken, who spoke of it as purely a literary work and said it was, "probably the most beautiful piece of writing in any language."
They were, of course, speaking of The Authorized Version, the one that came into being when the England of King James was scoured for translators & scholars. It was a time when the English language had reached it's peak of richness & beauty.
Now we are to have The Good News Bible which will be in, "the natural English of everyday adult conversation." I'm sure the scholars and clergymen supervised by the American Bible Society were sincerely imbued with the thought that they were taking religion to the people with their Good News Bible, but I can't help feeling we should instead be taking the people to religion and lifting them with the beauty of language that has outlived the centuries.
...
In the New Testament, in Mathew, we read "The voice of the one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way." [Matthew 3:3] The Good News version translates that, "Someone is shouting in the desert. Get the road ready." It sounds like a straw boss announcing lunch hour is over.
The hauntingly beautiful 23rd Psalm is the same in both versions, for a few words, "The Lord is my shepherd" but instead of continuing "I shall not want" we are supposed to say "I have everything I need."
The Christmas story has undergone some modernizing but one can hardly call it improved. The wondrous words "Fear not: for; behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy" has become, "Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you."
Not all improvement is beneficial.
Publius
Publius,
Have you ever listened really closely to baseball game spectators sing the national anthem? HA!! All I was saying is that it usually doesn't sound very good and people "banana" their way through the lyrics. I personally love to belt out the song as to cover up all the bad singing around me. Unless of course, Jim is there at which point we are both singing so loud we can't hear anything but ourselves. My suggestion was not to scrap the anthem, but to leave it as is. At least people have some idea what they are saying even if they don't sing it right. Change the lyrics to the fourth verse and all you get is more screeching and more bananas!
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