The Star Spangled Banner

The Star Spangled Banner that flew over Fort McHenry 13 September 1814

On this, the 242^nd anniversary or our nation’s birth, I’d like to take a look at the Star Spangled Banner, both the flag and the song.

The lyrics were written by poet, Francis Scott Key, who witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812.  Key was a lawyer, who had come to Baltimore to negotiate the release of civilian prisoners of war, and was on a truce ship in Baltimore Harbor.  At dawn, on the morning of 13 September 1814, The British fleet began bombarding Fort McHenry with both cannon and rockets.  This attack continued through the day and at sunset, “the twilight's last gleaming,” the flag over the fort still flew, showing the Americans still held it.  The bombardment continued through the night and when the sky would light up during the attack, the flag was seen still flying over the fort.  When the sun rose the following morning, at the “dawn’s early light,” Key was able to see that same flag he had “proudly hailed” when the sun set the night before.  It had survived the night and we still held the fort.

The bombardment ended shortly after sunrise and the British retreated for no other reason than they were out of ammunition. The battle was a standoff with no winner but it inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem called, “Defence of Fort M'Henry.”  It is four stanzas long but it is the first stanza that is so dear to Americans and so eloquently tells the story of that siege:

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The picture at the top shows the surviving remnant of the flag that flew over Fort McHenry at sunrise on 14 September 1814, the very flag that inspired Key to write his poem.  You can see that it has 15 stars and 15 stripes, two more in each regard than the original with 13 of each.  These two new stars and stripes were for Vermont and Kentucky and even though, in 1814, we also had admitted Tennessee, Ohio and Louisiana, The flag did not yet represent it.  When we finally adopted a new flag, the convention was set that all future flags would have one star for each state and 13 stripes for the original 13 colonies/states.  The flag that flew over Fort McHenry was the only version with more than 13 stripes.

It was Key’s brother-in-law, Joseph H. Nicholson, who noticed that the poem fit the music of a popular British tune, the Anacreontic Song.  The two were joined and it became a popular patriotic song, despite being one of the hardest to sing because of the vocal range needed.  What very few people know today is that the Star Spangled Banner did not become our National Anthem until  1931, 117 years after the poem was written!

Tonight, my DJ show at AWT will be a salute to this great nation, America.  During it, I will play three versions of the Star Spangled Banner.  There are so many versions to choose from but I chose the following three.  I will open with Whitney Houston’s amazingly beautiful and moving rendition.  At the midpoint, I will play Boston’s version and finally, I will end with what is probably the most amazing rendition I know, the one by Kiss.  I decided not to use the Jimi Hendrix version as I have done in the past as you will be hearing it next month at Woodstock at AWT.

In recent years, Kiss has been ending their concerts with the Star Spangled Banner and making it a big production.  They often have a military color guard present the flag, bring wounded veterans on stage for the event and Paul Staley even plays his star spangled guitar.  The picture below shows this scene from one of their concerts.  You can see, Paul Stanley even has his hand over his heart.  Kiss has used these events to rally against those who refuse to stand for our National Anthem.  In my opinion, there are no truer patriots than the guys of Kiss.  Like with a fireworks display, this rendition will be the moving grand finale of my show tonight.  I'm still moved to tears every time I hear it.

So please join me, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, tonight as we celebrate 242 years of American freedom.

Kiss about to do the Star Spangled Banner in concert