O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-07-04 17:21:37
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Mark Clague
- ISBN：039365138X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Socraticgadfly
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An interesting， lighter-side at times and rollicking， but deeper at times and with several "new to me" items look at the history of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner and its development。Several brief points and a couple of longer ones。First， Key had three days to write it; it wasn’t an overnight flash of inspiration。Second， he’d written another song to Anacreon’s words in 1805， celebrating Stephen Decatur’s naval attack on Tripoli。 （Also the source of words in another famous American patri An interesting， lighter-side at times and rollicking， but deeper at times and with several "new to me" items look at the history of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner and its development。Several brief points and a couple of longer ones。First， Key had three days to write it; it wasn’t an overnight flash of inspiration。Second， he’d written another song to Anacreon’s words in 1805， celebrating Stephen Decatur’s naval attack on Tripoli。 （Also the source of words in another famous American patriotic song！） That said， Clague rightly notes this wasn’t a poem， it was a song， or rather， song lyrics from the start。 （Key also wrote several hymns， some of which are in Protestant hymnals yet today。）Third， Anacreon wasn’t a “drinking song。” Rather， both words and tune were， for the Anacreontic Society， part of its program of giving professional musicians a glee-club type performance piece。 Plenty of details about the club are in the book。Fourth， additional verses have been written from time to time。 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr’s Civil War verse is surely the best and the one that has most survived to today。 Go here。 Fifth， it was already an unofficial national anthem of sorts by the Mexican War。 tSixth， the National Anthem was being played at opening day games in baseball long before the enforced patriotism of WWI。 Related， he notes modern “paid patriotism” and more。 And tackles not only Kaepernick， but the likes of Tommy Smith and John Carlos long before him。 He also notes that they weren’t the first， but that a Black woman， Eroseanna Robinson， remained seated during the anthem at the 1959 Pan Am Games。 Related to THAT， he notes that “parodies，” based on the Anacreon tune still， began in the 1840s and included ones tied to the temperance movement， abolition， and the early pitch for women’s rights。 Next came antiwar versions。Seventh， Clague has a good breakdown of modern Super Bowl performances。tEighth， Clague tackles the problematic “hireling and slave” line in the third verse， and takes it to most likely， in context of its time， to refer respectively to conscript troops and British subjects of a king。 In short， a follow-up on Declaration of Independence propaganda。 He adds that maybe Key intended it to refer to British Gen。 Robert Ross， noting its singular while previous third-verse references are plural。 I find this not convincing。Key personally？ Yes， a slaveholder。 Also， one of the founders of the American Colonization Society。 He freed several slaves in his lifetime and the rest in his will （pending his wife’s death）。 A representer of Blacks in court， including on freedom petitions， that Clague notes saw nearly 60 former slaves freed。 At the same time， he as federal district attorney for DC under Jackson， he prosecuted an abolitionist after an 1835 slave riot。 But， he also distanced his stances， or tried to， from other ACS members。 He never pushed any of his own slaves that he freed into colonization。 Clague goes into much more depth to present a nuanced， in-his-times， picture of Key。In the next chapter， Clague looks at “modern” takes in general。 These include Jose Feliciano， of course， Jimi Hedrix， Aretha Franklin and others。 He does so in a way that general refutes urban legends， or rather rural legends， since they’re normally by conservative White folk。From there， it’s on to Rosanne Barr， which a sympathetic yet critical take on it， and for you classical aficionados like me， Stravinsky’s orchestration。 Note: I generally like this， but do not like the removed dotted rhythm partway into the 2nd/4th lines。 Done by itself， it makes it stand out too much， at least in instrumental-only performances。 I’d rather he kept all syncopation but cut the dotted quarters by a sixteenth and augmented the eighth notes by a sixteenth。 It does sound less glaring in choral versions。Back to the brief note above that it had apparently started becoming our National Anthem already at the time of the Mexican War， Clague ends with plaints against it， and suggested alternatives。 ==That said， there is one error of note。 A professional musicologist should know better than to call Herb Alpert Hispanic。 。。。more
David
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An in-depth examination of our National Anthem。 Clague makes a compelling case for accepting the Anthem as an invitation to citizenship by challenging the Nation we are to become the Nation we hope to be。 Each chapter can be read as a standalone essay。 A nice add-on would be a playlist with selected renditions of the Anthem: Houston， Hendrix， Feliciano， even Barr。
Dan Graser
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This new volume from Musicologist Mark Clague on our national anthem is a timely， readable， and comprehensive history of the many facets of the Star-Spangled Banner。 As indicated in the title， this is a "cultural biography" so in addition to providing key historical context surrounding all of the figures involved in its composition and dissemination， Clague deftly analyzes how its role within American culture has evolved in its 200+ year history。 The modern discussion of this song is always vexe This new volume from Musicologist Mark Clague on our national anthem is a timely， readable， and comprehensive history of the many facets of the Star-Spangled Banner。 As indicated in the title， this is a "cultural biography" so in addition to providing key historical context surrounding all of the figures involved in its composition and dissemination， Clague deftly analyzes how its role within American culture has evolved in its 200+ year history。 The modern discussion of this song is always vexed with preconceived notions as to the story behind Key's conception of the text， the basis of the tune being some sort of drinking song， and the idea that only recently has it become a source of cultural tension， protest， or social change; this volume will dissolve such a myopic view。 Upon completion you will have a complete view of Francis Scott Key， the source of the text and the music， its progression towards becoming the national anthem， its use during wartime and peacetime， how it came to be a staple of every sporting event in this country， examinations of notable performances， and broader non-official cultural uses of the anthem。 Rather than just tear down the statue of Key as a slave-owner （which he was） or on the other political side hurl epithets at figures and athletes who have different reactions to the anthem besides blind and obsequious patriotism， we would all be better served by having the wealth of information and context this volume provides to inform discussions about modern uses of our national anthem。 Recommended to all！ 。。。more
Bruce
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A truly enjoyable read setting forth facts regarding the "National Anthem"。 Divided into well organized chapters one can chose to read in any order。 However， being a traditionalist， I read from the beginning。 The melody itself is from a British 'club' song likely written in 1773 or before。 Numerous lyrics were written for it as was the custom of the day。 While we are led to believe Key wrote the lyrics in a day， it took longer。 Also he had written numerous lyrics to the melody prior to the War o A truly enjoyable read setting forth facts regarding the "National Anthem"。 Divided into well organized chapters one can chose to read in any order。 However， being a traditionalist， I read from the beginning。 The melody itself is from a British 'club' song likely written in 1773 or before。 Numerous lyrics were written for it as was the custom of the day。 While we are led to believe Key wrote the lyrics in a day， it took longer。 Also he had written numerous lyrics to the melody prior to the War of 1812。 A chapter on banner ballads explains the musical 'customs' of the day。 "Play Ball" provides a history of it's use at sporting events and how patriotism and the economic success of professional sports in intertwined。 Other chapters give details on the anthem's use in American cultural history。 For music critics the chapter on "Performing Patriotism" critiques the performances of various artists from the iconic Jimmy Hendrix performance to the much more recent renditions of Jon Baptiste。 Like several books that dig deeper into history this book exposes several myths。 。。。more
Nancy
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