The Star-Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key,\u00a0a lawyer, wrote the lyrics after watching the British attack Fort McHenry, Maryland, in 1814, during the War of 1812.\u00a0The melody was taken from \u201cTo Anacreon in Heaven,\u201d a drinking song\u00a0f the Anacreontic Society (of London) that was written by the British composer John Stafford Smith.\u00a0Key\u2019s words were first published in a broadside in 1814 under the title \u201cDefence of Fort M\u2019Henry.\u201d The song\u2019s title was changed when it appeared in sheet-music form later the same year. After a century of general use, the four-stanza song was officially adopted as the national anthem by act of Congress in 1931.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Innumerable publications of the song through the years have shown variations in both words and music. An official arrangement was prepared by\u00a0John Philip Sousa\u00a0for the U.S. Army and Navy, and music educators have spent much time and effort in arriving at a practical version. The second and third stanzas are customarily omitted out of courtesy to the British. The accepted text of \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d is as follows:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oh, say can you see by the dawn\u2019s early light<\/p>\n
What so proudly we hail\u2019d at the twilight\u2019s last gleaming,<\/p>\n
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight<\/p>\n
O\u2019er the ramparts we watch\u2019d were so gallantly streaming?<\/p>\n
And the rockets\u2019 red glare, the bombs bursting in air,<\/p>\n
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.<\/p>\n
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave<\/p>\n
O\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave?<\/p>\n
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,<\/p>\n
Where the foe\u2019s haughty host in dread silence reposes,<\/p>\n
What is that which the breeze, o\u2019er the towering steep,<\/p>\n
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?<\/p>\n
Now it catches the gleam of the morning\u2019s first beam,<\/p>\n
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream.<\/p>\n
\u2019Tis the star-spangled banner, oh, long may it wave<\/p>\n
O\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave!<\/p>\n
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore<\/p>\n
That the havoc of war and the battle\u2019s confusion<\/p>\n
A home and a country should leave us no more?<\/p>\n
Their blood has wash\u2019d out their foul footstep\u2019s pollution.<\/p>\n
No refuge could save the hireling and slave<\/p>\n
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,<\/p>\n
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave<\/p>\n
O\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<\/p>\n
Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand<\/p>\n
Between their lov\u2019d home and the war\u2019s desolation!<\/p>\n
Blest with vict\u2019ry and peace may the heav\u2019n-rescued land<\/p>\n
Praise the power that hath made and preserv\u2019d us a nation<\/p>\n
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,<\/p>\n
And this be our motto, \u201cIn God is our Trust,\u201d<\/p>\n
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave<\/p>\n
O\u2019er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Star-Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key,\u00a0a lawyer, wrote the lyrics after watching the British attack Fort McHenry, Maryland, in 1814, during the War of 1812.\u00a0The melody was taken from \u201cTo Anacreon in Heaven,\u201d a drinking song\u00a0f the Anacreontic Society (of London) that was written by the British composer John Stafford Smith.\u00a0Key\u2019s words were first published in a broadside in 1814 under the title \u201cDefence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-composers-corner"],"yoast_head":"\n
Composer's Corner: Star Spangled Banner - PianoNotes Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Composer's Corner: Star Spangled Banner - PianoNotes Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Star-Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key,\u00a0a lawyer, wrote the lyrics after watching the British attack Fort McHenry, Maryland, in 1814, during the War of 1812.\u00a0The melody was taken from \u201cTo Anacreon in Heaven,\u201d a drinking song\u00a0f the Anacreontic Society (of London) that was written by the British composer John Stafford Smith.\u00a0Key\u2019s words were first published in a broadside in 1814 under the title \u201cDefence […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PianoNotes Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/midamericapiano\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-01T15:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-27T17:56:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mid-America Piano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mid-America Piano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mid-America Piano\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0e840f0572967401204cf173c1716791\"},\"headline\":\"Composer’s Corner: Star Spangled Banner\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-01T15:00:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-27T17:56:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\"},\"wordCount\":522,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Untitled-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Composer's Corner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pianonotes.piano4u.com\/index.php\/2014\/07\/composers-corner-star-spangled-banner\/\",\"name\":\"Composer's Corner: Star Spangled Banner - 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