Star Spangled Banner

The star-spangled banner has been performed over the years by many artists. There have been few that have really stuck out and remained in our memory. It was created during a time of revolution and the beginning of a nation. There is no time to be more patriotic than when you are fighting for your country. The song represents the freedom that americans have fought and died to defend. There is not a place on earth with so much freedom and equal rights as in America. When veterans hear the star-spangled banner it brings them pride because they fought for our freedom. The national anthem makes every american feel a sort of pride for their country.

hard times in American history, The Star-Spangled Banner was also used to lift the spirits of Americans all over the world. In events, such as the Gulf War where Whitney Houston united a whole stadium whilst singing the national anthem, and even after 9/11 when hundreds of Parisians gathered in Notre Dame to sing The Star-Spangled Banner to show their solidarity.

The pledge of allegiance and “Star Spangled Banner” are examples of compulsive patriotism in America that not everyone sees. The Pledge of Allegiance and the “Star-Spangled Banner” are orthodoxes Americans have recited for many years since the 1800s. The pledge of allegiance was practiced everyday in the beginning of class, starting at kindergarten, having all the students and teachers participate. I do not call to mind ever learning about what the pledge signified or meant. Never did I ask myself why we said this pledge of allegiance every single day, it was just a mandatory order of each day. The “Star Spangled Banner” is the national anthem that is recited before sport’s events, like football games, and also at official government procedures. Both are traditions in America that show pride for their country, it’s freedom, and history.

When songwriters begin to pen the lyrics of a song, I believe their ultimate goal is to transcend time in hopes of reaching listeners for generations to come. J.R. Cash, professionally known as Johnny Cash, wrote a song that did just that. “Ragged Old Flag” is a patriotic song that speaks to every generation. Written in 1974, “Ragged Old Flag” was meant to tell the story of our country. Johnny Cash recorded “Ragged Old Flag” live at the House of Cash. Cash wanted the song to be recorded live because it was raw, untouched, and unapologetically real. The basis of this analysis is to show how patriotism spans generations, but also why a song such as, “Ragged Old Flag” is an important part of patriotism in the United States of America.

Ira Berlin (author of many thousands gone) starts this book off (in the prologue) by recalling a dispute some years ago over “who freed the slaves?” in the Civil War South. He was interviewed on Washington's public radio station about the meaning of “The Emancipation Proclamation”. He also addressed other familiar themes of the great document origin’s nature of the Civil War changing, the growing Black labor and the union's army’s dependence on it, the Evermore intensifying opposition to slavery in the North, and the interaction of military necessity an abolitionist idealism. He rehearsed the long established debate over the role of Abraham Lincoln, the radicals in Congress, abolitionists in the North, the Union army in the field, and slaves on the slaves on the plantations of the South in the destruction of slavery and in the authorship of legal freedom. During this debate he restated his position that “slaves played a critical role in securing their own freedom”.

African-Americans have fought on many of liberty’s battlefields from the pre-emancipated plantation to the killing fields of the Civil War. African-Americans have always been willing to fight not just for their freedom, but for their country as well. Yet, their country never lived up to its founding document that asserts that, “All men are created equal; ”instead,

In the essay “Of thee they sing with feeling”, Garrison Keillor details his opinion on the United States’ National Anthem and the unity it brings Americans when they join together in song. After reading his essay, a greater appreciation for the indescribable feeling it gives those who sing it was more thoroughly developed. Although our society is constantly changing, the National Anthem is a timeless patriotic piece that will be cherished by many generations to come.

In Chapter 9, “Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom,” of A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn takes about the slave rebellions, abolition movement, the Civil War, and these effects on African Americans. Zinn included this chapter to explain the life of African Americans before and after the Civil War and their treatment accordingly. Howard Zinn explains how the life of an African American remained cruel and taken advantage of through explaining the life of a slave before the War and then the mentality that whites were better than blacks that continued after, seen through the effects of the Klu Klux Klan.

The Civil War was a period of racial injustice and a time of great loss for the people of America. During Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he creates a moral framework for peace and reconciliation with the use of many rhetorical strategies. With a sincere but reflective tone, Abraham Lincoln highlights the reality of the troubled nation and the solution to all of the problems, which is unity. Lincoln repeats strong phrases to enhance the theme, references to a holy figure, and creates simple, yet structured ideas to achieve his purpose of reuniting the broken nation.

The Star - Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key as he watched his fellow Americans stand strong in their darkest hour. For over twenty four hours Fort McHenry was bombarded by British Navy, but the American troops fought, and so did their families. The Americans rallied around the singular flag that stood high in the fort, and a flag that was a target for the British armada. They planned to destroy the flag to disrupt moral, but the Americans refused to let it fall. They used that singular flag as motivation, and motivation that eventually won them the battle. The flag still holds the same purpose today. To remember those who have fought, or are currently fighting in our armies. It also serves as a source of pride, motivation, and patriotism towards our country. Knowing what our flag means to our history and our country, we can’t possibly keep letting our countries source of pride be disrespected by those attempting to promote their own cause. Are nations athletes that choose to display their displeasure with our nation’s current state, and disrespect what our flag means for our country.

Meaning in music is derived from parenthetical analysis of several technical aspects including lyrics, form, historical context, emotional content, and personal connection. A hermeneutical approach to the Star-Spangled Banner can yield only interpretational results. Therefore, we must examine the more concrete details of the work, and how the music relates to the meaning of the protests as stated by Colin Kaepernick in August of 2016.

Throughout its history, music has permeated the significant events of American history. Its effect on American society and the way the American people cope with each event has only grown as popular music evolves and new genres reach more and more individuals. People can remember where they were and their exact surroundings to amazing detail when asked about life-changing events in history. Older generations will remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their children will remember when Kennedy was assassinated and when man walked on the moon. Their grandchildren will remember much of the turmoil of the ‘70s and ‘80s and their great grandchildren grew up in the world impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. Even one’s surroundings during the start or end of a relationship or personal events such as graduation, getting a driver’s license, or getting married can all be paired with the music that was popular at the time.

James M. McPherson was born October 11, 1936. He is considered to be an American Civil War historian and he is a professor at Princeton University. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his book Battle Cry of Freedom and Wikipedia states this was his most famous book. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Ph. D. and teaches United States History at Princeton University.

As a lawyer, Key took great care crafting his word choice for the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner. There is an inherent difficulty and artistry in composing lyrics to a predetermined tune. Specific to this case, a historical account of events had to be set to the sophisticated meter of “The Anacreontic Song.” Close examination of Key’s original manuscript [available at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD] reveals areas in which Key painstakingly reworked his lyrics to fit the meter of the tune. Most notably the conclusion of the fourth verse “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And let this be our motto – “In God is our Trust” appears crossed-out and rewritten several times.

Who would have ever predicted that the traditional 1915 song, America, I Love You (Reublin, 2004) would become Anti-Flag¡¦s North America Sucks by the year 1998? Or 1775¡¦s The King¡¦s Regulars (History in a Song, 2004) become 2001¡¦s Son of a Bush? Since the American Revolution of 1775 to present-day September 11th attacks and United States¡¦ war with Iraq, artists have taken advantage of their freedom of expression during conflicts by incorporating their own philosophies into their lyrics. When central themes of these wartime lyrics are analzed in chronological order, they show patterns that reflect the dichotomy of