Jun
12
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
June 12, 2009 | 2 Comments
Michael Kinsley says it’s time to ditch the Star Spangled Banner as our National Anthem. I would be okay with such a move only if we could switch it to the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Since I don’t see that happening, I think we ought to stick with what we got.
Kinsley raises some reasonable objections, although his tsk tsking the bravado of “home of the brave” is a bit much to take. But he also notes:
The melody is lifted from an old English drinking song.
Oh no! A drinking song? Surely nothing good has ever been inspired by a drinking song.
(Yeah, the translation is awful and the video and audio are not in sync, but it’s the frakkin’ 9th. Enjoy.)
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2 Comments so far
As I said at your post on Southern Appeal, I would support a change in the National Anthem, but ONLY if it were replaced with this version of this song by this singer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghz4_kikLkE
Anthony Esolen has distinguished ‘popular culture’ from ‘mass entertainment’ by noting that the former is comprised of songs that people themselves sing. The Star Spangled Banner is, by this understanding popular culture and should remain. In any case, the tune is stirring. His contention that “home of the brave” is “empty bravado” is, one suspects, an unintentional reference to his own defects. (Recalling for a moment his non-apologia twenty years ago for his lack of military service).
If you insist on a replacement, this is one of the better candidates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MG27BKwjaI