The music itself was written around 1778 by John Stafford Smith, an Englishman. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer with a contradictory record on slavery, wrote the words in 1814
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskJust two months later, as it turned out. Inspired by the Battle of Fort McHenry, a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key wrote the words for “The Star-Spangled Banner” and set them to a popular tune. Irving’spublished the lyrics, which caught on across the country. Key’s song served less to reflect than to encourage national unity.
Mr Clague, a music professor at the University of Michigan, has produced a thoughtful and elegant history of America’s national anthem. Unlike a flag, he writes, a song must be performed, so it is “not a static icon but a patriotic act”. Removing your hat for it signals respect. Kneeling or raising a fist, as African-American athletes have done to protest against racism, makes a political statement. Almost any deviation from custom can cause a stir.
All the same, “The Star-Spangled Banner” has also been remarkably pliable. More than 30 other songs set to the same tune were written about the War of 1812 alone. During the civil war the Confederates twisted the lyrics: “O say does that Rag-Strangled Banner still wave/O’er the land of the thief and the home of the slave?” Later the proper version helped reconcile the foes.
Alongside the anthem’s historical significance, Mr Clague explores its musicology. It is famously hard to sing. Many a performer has fretted over the high note on the word “glare”, yet “to sound this note true and in tune is to signal the melody’s extraordinary ambition, not only to symbolise heroism but in a sense to be heroic.” The music itself was written in around 1778 by John Stafford Smith, an Englishman.
Key’s own biography muddies the story. In his day job, the amateur lyricist filed over 100 freedom petitions for enslaved African-Americans, more than any other lawyer in the District of Columbia. But he also represented slaveholders, owned slaves himself and despised abolitionism . Rather than proposing to tear down monuments to Key—as happened in San Francisco in 2020—or find a new anthem, Mr Clague embraces the vexed historical record.
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