Lyrics of the USA National Anthem

Petr Novák

The American national anthem is called The Star-Spangled Banner and has been in its current form since 1931. The words were written in 1814 by American poet Francis Scott Key, the music was written by John Stafford Smith and it was originally a popular pub song. Before 1931, My Country, ‘Tis of Thee served as the American national anthem.

Lyrics of the USA National Anthem | © MarineCorps NewYork / Flickr.com, © Unsplash.com

  1. Table of Contents
    1. National Anthem of the USA
    2. Original Lyrics of the US National Anthem
    3. Fun Facts About the National Anthem of USA

    National Anthem of the USA

    🔊 Audio

    The US national anthem in both instrumental and sung form is available on Wikipedia. You can listen to and download it in MP3 and other formats in a variety of performances. I find the United States Navy Band’s rendition without vocals to be the best, and you can download it in MP3.

    The advantage is that the audio file is published as Public Domain and can be used almost freely.

    You can also download a historical version of the 1914 US National Anthem sung by opera singer Thomas Hardie Chalmers.

    🎥 Video

    A popular video is from Super Bowl 50, where the US anthem was sung by Lady Gaga. Whitney Houston sang the national anthem at the same event 25 years earlier.

    A number of variations of the American anthem with lyrics can also be found on YouTube.

    🗎 How to Perform the US National Anthem

    The entire American anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” has four verses, with only the first verse commonly sung. The second through fourth verses are almost always omitted.

  2. Original Lyrics of the US National Anthem

    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 watch’d, 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?

    On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
    ⁠Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
    What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
    ⁠As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
    Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
    In full glory reflected now shines on the stream,
    ‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

    And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
    ⁠That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
    A home and a country should leave us no more?
    ⁠Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
    No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
    From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
    O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

    O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand,
    ⁠Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation,
    Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land,
    ⁠Praise the Power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
    Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
    And this be our motto—”In God is our Trust;”
    ⁠And the star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,
    O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

  3. Fun Facts About the National Anthem of USA

    ⚪ The Melody of the Anthem Comes From an English Pub Ditty

    The melody of the anthem is based on an old rag that was played in English pubs in the 18th century. At the time, Anacreon in Heaven was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen’s social club whose members were amateur musicians and met in London.

    According to surviving information, the British composer John Stafford Smith was the author of the musical motif. The text of the original English song was first published in the London magazine The Vocal in 1778.

    ⚪ Why the US National Anthem Is Played Before a Sports Game

    In the USA, it is customary to play the national anthem before the start of an NHL, NFL, NBA or other sports game.

    The exact origins of this custom are unclear, but there are several theories. According to one, the tradition began during the baseball World Series in Chicago in 1918. At the time, World War I was at its height in the world, and during the seventh inning, the military band at the stadium began playing the American national anthem to promote patriotism. The spectators in the stands spontaneously began singing, which moved the Chicago Cubs’ executives present so much that they turned the anthem into a ritual.

    ⚪ How the Star-Spangled Banner Got Its Name

    The name of the anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, refers to the US flag of the same name. Originally, the US anthem was called “The Defense of Fort McHenry”, a reference by lyricist Francis Scott Key to the Battle of Baltimore, which he witnessed firsthand. It was this event in September 1814 that inspired him to write the lyrics of the American anthem.

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