WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006
Thursday Edition: "The Star-Mangled Banner"
I find
the whole uproar over a
Spanish version of the national anthem (called "
Nuestro Himno") very interesting.
For starters, ABC News says
that, in 1919, the Federal Bureau of Education actually paid for a
translation of "The Star-Spangled Banner" into Spanish. You can even see
the original sheet music on the Library of Congress Web site by clicking here.
It does not stop there. The soon-to-be national anthem was also translated into German in 1861. It was not until 1931 that Congress declared the song to be our national anthem. You may not also know there were actually four verses to the song Mr. Key wrote.
I wonder how many of those who protest the Spanish lyrics could tell you the English lyrics.
A Harris Interactive poll found
that about two-thirds of Americans do not know all of the words to the song that became the national anthem in 1931. The National Anthem Project said
that, of those polled who claimed to know all the words, only 39
percent knew what follows "whose broad stripes and bright stars." (The
answer? "Through
the perilous fight.") Thirty-four percent answered "were so gallantly
streaming," and 19 percent answered "gave proof through the night."
An ABC News poll a few years ago found:
- [About] one in three (38 percent) don't know the official name of [the] national anthem ("[The] Star-Spangled Banner")
- Less than 35 percent of American teens can name the author of the national anthem (Francis Scott Key)
- As [little] as 15 percent of American youth can sing the words to the anthem from memory
Congress named "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem 117 years after Francis Scott Key wrote new words for the tune "To Anacreon in Heaven" [be warned: clicking on this link launches a music file], which Utne magazine says:
…
was a tribute to an ancient Greek poet who celebrated the joys of
eating, drinking and arguing. John Stafford Smith composed the piece
around 1780 as the signature song for a gentlemen's club of amateur
musicians in London
who dubbed themselves the Anacreontic Society.
Further, I wonder how
many American could tell you what the lyrics mean -- what a rampart
is, for example. What is the song about?
This whole debate reminds me of when Jimi Hendrix played "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock. (If you care, here is the music
to go along with it.) Some saw it as a political statement. He later
said he played it because he thought it was "beautiful." (See video of his 1969 interview with Dick Cavett.)
See a video of Hendrix playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" here.
There have been other
very controversial versions of what some have called "The Star-Mangled
Banner." Here is a list of some of them, from infoPlease:
Jose Feliciano
Oct. 7, 1968
[G]uitarist Jose Feliciano stunned the crowd at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, when he strummed a slow, bluesy rendition of the national anthem before Game 5 of the World Series between Detroit and St. Louis. The 23-year-old's performance was the first nontraditional version seen by mainstream America... [Several radio stations stopped playing Feliciano's music in protest.] The fiery response from Vietnam-weary America
was not surprising, considering the tumultuous year for American
patriotism. Good or bad, however, Feliciano's performance opened the
door for the countless interpretations of the Star-Spangled Banner we hear today. [...]
Marvin Gaye
Feb. 13, 1983
A
little more than a week before Motown legend Marvin Gaye picked up two
Grammy Awards for his classic "Sexual Healing," he performed the
national anthem before the 1983 NBA All-Star Game at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Accompanied by a drum machine, Gaye's interpretation added elements of
soul and funk to the national anthem. Gaye, who, coincidently, also
sang the anthem during the same World Series as Jose Feliciano in 1968,
was scrutinized for his performance, but the fallout didn't compare to
that of Feliciano's rendition. [...]
Roseanne Barr
July 25, 1990
The
poster child for "Star-Spangled Banner" controversy, Barr tried to add
her own brand of humor to the singing of the national anthem before a baseball game in San Diego.
After screeching through an off-key version of the song she added some
clichéd baseball humor by spitting and grabbing her crotch. The popular
sitcom comedian immediately became public enemy number one. After
hearing a tape of Barr, President George [H.W.] Bush called it
"disgusting" and "a disgrace." [...]
Aerosmith
May 27, 2001
Singing on Memorial Day before the start of the Indianapolis 500, Steven Tyler, lead singer of the rock group Aerosmith, angered veterans by changing the last line of the song. Instead of singing "home of the brave," Tyler sings "home of the Indianapolis
500." He apologized the next day, releasing the following statement: "I
got in trouble my whole life for having a big mouth. I'm very proud to
be an American and live in the home of the brave." [...]
Robert Goulet
May 25, 1965
Although he was born in the United States, Robert
Goulet moved to Canada when he was 14 years old and had never [sung]
"[T]he Star-Spangled Banner"
in public before May 25, 1965. That night, moments before the
much-anticipated rematch of boxing heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali
and Sonny Liston in Lewiston, Maine, Goulet began, "Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early night..."
The bout lasted less than one round, and the disappointing fight didn't
provide a big enough shadow for Goulet's performance to hide behind.
Although he's done it without incident hundreds of times since, Goulet
says he is always asked about his infamous flub.
Carl Lewis
Jan. 21, 1993
There's no question nine-time Olympic track-and-field gold medalist Carl Lewis can carry a baton -- as he did many times for U.S.
Olympic relay teams -- but how about a tune? Before a Chicago Bulls–New
Jersey Nets basketball game, in front of a sellout crowd in East
Rutherford, N.J., Lewis orchestrated the musical equivalent of a train
wreck. Later explaining that he was hoarse from participating in
inaugural events at the White House the day before, Lewis faltered
during the lyric "rockets' red glare," and then mid-song told the fans,
"I'll make up for it." He never did. [Listen to the audio clip here.]
Mexico About to Make Some Pot Possession Legal
Is this going to be a problem, especially for border states? Will it promote a sort of drug tourism to Mexico? Seems like it will make Mexico an even bigger spring-break attraction (even though many resort cities have local laws against possession). Reuters says:
Mexico's president will approve a
law that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of
marijuana, cocaine and other drugs to concentrate on fighting
violent drug gangs, the government said on Tuesday. [...]
Under the [Mexican]
federal law, police will not criminally prosecute people or hand out
jail terms for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium,
or 25 milligrams of heroin. Nor does the law penalize possession of 500
milligrams of cocaine -- enough for a few lines.
The legal changes
will also decriminalize the possession of limited quantities of LSD,
hallucinogenic mushrooms, amphetamines, ecstasy and peyote -- a
psychotropic cactus found in Mexico's northern deserts.
Online Language Leaves Parents in the Dark
WBNS-10TV in Columbus, Ohio
points out that parents can be clueless about what their kids are
saying online, even if they monitor their kids' activities. However, here
are some codes that parents can use to figure it all out.
NetLingo.com
lets you look up an abbreviation or slang phrase and figure out what it
means. NetLingo also keeps a running update on the latest phrases and
words. For example, if you see your teenager type "IWSN" to a friend, you have a lot to worry about.
NoSlang.com put together this list:
- AbbreviationZ.com
contains more than 300,000 abbreviations in a large number of
categories including: business, computing, Internet, chat, slang, government, medical, science, military and more.
- Our Slang Blog is constantly updated with articles and insights as well as any new changes or updates to NoSlang
- The Peevish Dictionary of Slang has a large selection of English slang and informal expressions currently in use in Britain. [It is] updated regularly, [and has] a list of links to other slang-related Web sites. [...]
- Parents, learn how to protect your kids online. Visit TheParentsEdge[.com] for more tips.
Here are some more stories about Internet slang:
A Point-and-Shoot Uploadable Video Cam Under $130
The video is a little grainy, the audio is not fantastic, but this is a camera
that you can plug into the USB port of a computer. The video is
compressed and able to be e-mailed or posted right away. It seems like the
kind of thing that journalists should have. The cost $129. See the company's Web site for more information. RCA is also getting into the tiny digital-cam business with its new Small Wonder point-and-shoot cam.
Trixie Tracker
Is this what we have come to? Trixie Tracker is an online site
that helps new parents track their kid's sleep patterns, bottles fed,
diapers soiled. My bigger concern is when my kids start
keeping one of these sites for me.
What Editorial Cartoons Are Saying...
...About immigration issues.
...About gas prices.
...About bird flu.
Local Fox Stations Launch Web Sites
Fox-owned and
-operated TV stations are finally getting deeper into the Web business.
After
years of refusing to post much of any news content online, some stations
are launching sites nationwide. Here is a beta version of one of the sites, in New York City. This one is packed with fast-loading video. The
navigation tabs across the top create a nice design. Otherwise, it's nothing
radical. Some stations tell me they plan to have a good bit more
material from the public, sort of a YouTube/Flickr notion.
The new Web sites will
launch in Austin, Texas; Houston; Boston; Tampa, Fla.; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; New York and Atlanta.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a
compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a
variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When
the information comes directly from another source, it will be
attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is
fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the
original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 8:35:24 PM
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