MaxQ asked : American national hymn sung to the tune of "God save the (insert sex of monarch here)"?
Yes, indeedy.
"America"
"My country 'tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty,
of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring."
To sing it properly you have to sort of elongate the "every" and "freedom."
Every once in awhile there is a populist movement to change the National Anthem from "The Star Spangled Banner" to "America" as it is easier to sing!
Both the tunes for "God Save the .." and "The Star Spangled Banner" are English in origin.
"The Star Spangled Banner" melody being an old English drinking song, I believe!
Then, there are those in favor of "America the Beautiful" as our national anthem - with both melody and lyric American in origin, and not requiring a large vocal range to sing.
"America The Beautiful"
"O, beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountains majesty,
Above the fruited plains,
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea."
Since I'm dredging these lyrics up from memory please correct if I've made mistakes. Thanks.
