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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Well, I just found a site reference showing the Mr. Key himself changed the words from time to time: Immediately popular, it remained just one of several patriotic airs until it was finally adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. But the actual words were not included in the legal documents. Key himself had written several versions with slight variations so discrepancies in the exact wording still occur. http://www.ecwa.asn.au/info/lyrics.html#TheEdit: I just changed my spelling to the correct spelling of Key. Not that anybody except Wof and I care...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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At issue would be, on what date was the "current information" obtained? The time I'm referring to is a good fifty years ago, and I recognize that evolution may well have occurred in the interval... but as Class Pedant I still say the gratuitous "the" is wrong.What did Francis Scott Key write? edit: your post came before my reply 
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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Okey, doke. Here's some more history retrieved from the web: On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. William Beans, who had been captured after the burning of Washington, D.C. The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore. In the morning he was so delighted to see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a poem to commemorate the occasion. Entitled "The Star-Spangled Banner," the poem soon attained wide popularity as sung to the tune "Ancreon in Heaven." The origin of this tune is obscure, but it may have been written by John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was officially made the National Anthem by Congress in 1931, although already adopted as such by the Army and Navy.
http://www.il.ngb.army.mil/museum2/flag/anthem.htmI'm going back and editing my spelling of "Keye"--but I'm not gonna drop the "fox," since he changed the lyric!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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about the gratuitous "the", it's not until the last two lines of the melody that any syllable uses more than one pitch. it is entirely non-melismatic until those last two lines, so perhaps it just makes it easier to sing, especially for untrained voices. just a thought.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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I honestly don't think the the in question is gratuitous, and not even superfluous. And the first word, Oh, is one syllable and is sung with two pitches anyway, not one. Still, your theory is a good one, even throwing "Oh" out of the argument, especially if the first versions never contained the the in question. So far, every version I've found online includes that word that I'm fast becoming sick of referring to!
Best regards,
WW
I would be interested in seeing a version in which the the in question had been omitted or hadn't appeared in the first place, but, based on what I read today, it sounds as though several versions circulated all springing forth from the head of Mr. Key.
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old hand
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old hand
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the whole dang thing seems to scan very strangely (IMO) but then I can't sing it, so perhaps the problem lies avec moi....! We Canajuns cain't talk, anyway - our national anthem sounds like a dirge (except when arranged and sung by my fave Kingston group, Night Sun - excellent!). I often wish ours could be "The Maple Leaf Forever" - a rather more jaunty tune....
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Carpal Tunnel
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d'oh! I missed the 'Oh"! and you're right about the non-gratuity of the the word, don't know why that particular adj popped into my head... I would find it strange to sing it without the the... good 'ole the
formerly known as etaoin...
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old hand
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old hand
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Syllables. Doesn't anyone count syllables anymore? Listen. And the rockets red glare. (six syllables. Add--> "rockets red glaring" an arcane image even unto today.) And the bombs bursting in air, (Clear image but seven syllables) The word "and" was needed as a mnemonic but had to go, so "the" was left to supply the requisite syllable. But when singing, without the mnemonic "and", people forgot the line and so paused until some smart fellow said "the Bombs ...". More and more people waited to hear "bombs" and so by default the "the" was eventually left out. Leaving one pause and five syllables. That odd conditioned pause is what wof's ears remember. I think, milo.
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veteran
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veteran
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our national anthem sounds like a dirge (except when arranged and sung by my fave Kingston group, Night Sun - excellent!). I often wish ours could be "The Maple Leaf Forever" I reckon a lot of Brits would prefer Jerusalem to God Save The Queen as a National Anthem. It's a fantastic tune, especially with full organ arrangement, and has excellent inspirational words. Good 'Ol William Blake Though I suppose GSTQ is really just a bit crap rather than totally appalling - and it does have a good "lift" at the end, albeit a pale shadow of Jerusalem's.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Oh how good to breathe the pure clear air. Now, who can I have an argument with in peace?
>I reckon a lot of Brits would prefer Jerusalem
True but there is a slight problem with the title. Now if it were changed to "Oh Neasden" or "Manchester" it would work much better.
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