October 9, 1968

Need Second Anthem Stressing Brotherhood

Apparently it's not necessary to know the words to "The Star Spangled Banner" and be able to hit the high notes with some assurance as long as you put "soul" into your rendition.

I used to think a loud and confident expression of the national anthem was a prime requisite, or at least sufficient for a patriotic American.  But fashions in patriotism change.  The current rage is for "feeling," and let meaning take the hindmost.

I caught the opening of the fifth Baseball World Series game and was appalled to hear the national anthem so hoked up with blues notes and folk guitar I honestly couldn't recognize the song.

It took me back with a shock to the Democratic National Convention when Aretha Franklin put so much gospel interpretation into "The Star Spangled Banner" that she forgot the words and no one else could sing along with her.

The pre-game anthem was sung by Jose Feliciano, a 23-year-old blind Puerto Rican.  His version caused some consternation among the crowd and television viewers.  An ABC spokesman said its network stations had received a rash of calls about the unusual presentation.

Mickey Lolich, Detroit pitcher, gave up three runs in the first inning to the Cardinals.  "The playing of the National Anthem threw me off," he said.

Feliciano shrugged off the controversy.  "I just do my thing," he stated.

I admire Feliciano's obvious regard for the anthem, but I deplore the current trend of trying to put personal meaning into a rendition that the rest of us are expected to share.  As a solo, okay.

Whenever a crowd is to be led in a singing of the national anthem it should be by a third-grader to whom the words and their meaning are still simple and adequate for the occasion.

That is, if you can find a third grader who knows the words.

Good friend Ruth Ann is spending a few minutes each evening these days teaching her children the words to "The Star Spangled Banner" and "America" because she discovered that the schools don't sing these tunes any more.

Patriotic songs seem to have quietly disappeared from school curricula along with the Lord's Prayer and inspirational stories about our Founding Fathers.  All very modern and sophisticated, but a sad vacuum into which much trivia moves.

Ruth Ann is disturbed because youngsters aren't taught patriotic songs and lessons as fundamentals to their education.  She will make sure her kids grow up to be good citizens.  However, I wonder how many thousands of children in this country will be short changed because their parents don't know and/or don't care that patriotism is no longer taught.

I hold no brief for "The Star Spangled Banner."  As a matter of fact I think it is a poor choice for a national anthem.  It is hard to sing and relates to a minor incident in one of our minor wars.

The average American believes "The Star Spangled Banner" commemorates a battle of the Revolutionary War and has been a hallowed anthem ever since.

Not so.

During the closing months of the War of 1812, a Dr. Beanes of Maryland was taken captive by British marines.  Francis Scott Key, a young Washington attorney, was dispatched under a flag of truce to seek the doctor's release.  The British agreed to the release but held all the Americans temporary prisoners while the British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry at Baltimore harbor.

It was the bombardment during the night of Sept.  13-14, 1814, that inspired Key to write his immortal poem.  The next day a friend of Key put the words to the music of a popular English tune of the day, "To Anacreon in Heaven."

The song was a revered patriotic air but did not become our national anthem until World War I when President Wilson decreed it official.  Congress did not make it law until 1931.

For all of these reasons I feel "The Star Spangled Banner" is not a suitable national anthem, and a more significant one should be chosen.

The song "America," starting out "My country 'tis of thee," comes quickly to mind.  It has certain merit, emphasizing as it does the concept of freedom.

Yet, "America" also is a borrowed tune from the British - being their national anthem, "God Save the King."

"America" was written in 1832 by Samuel Francis Smith while a theological student at Andover, Mass.  He had been asked to examine a book of German school songs.  There he found a tune with solemn metre which inspired his patriotic song.

It was only later that he discovered he had used the British anthem, which the German's had purloined.

My vote for a second U.S. national anthem goes to "America the Beautiful," which starts, "O beautiful for spacious skies."

It was written in 1893 by Katherine Lee Bates, a distinguished poetess and educator.  I like it because the tune is original; and the words speak of the beauty of America, its devotion to God and its belief in brotherhood - all meaningful attributes.

In case you have forgotten, the first verse goes like this:

"O beautiful, for spacious skies,

for amber waves of grain.  

"For purple mountain majesties

above the fruited plain.

"America, America,

God shed his grace on thee

"And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."

There is no emphasis on war, and the tune has a hymnal quality.  It is easy to sing and All-American in origin.

Third graders could easily learn the song in school, and adults could even sing it at public gatherings without a leader.

In addition, the song has enough built in "soul" that we wouldn't need stylists to squeeze in something we didn't learn as youngsters.

Author: Lindsey Williams