(Find more historical Times shade-throwing here. A 1927 New York Times editorial, "Wanted, A National Anthem," voiced the common concerns. A symbol of American patriotism, The Star-Spangled Banner makes young and old stand proud of their country, and everything it represents.
But many were not happy with merely codifying what had become complacency. The song had been the de facto anthem since President Wilson ordered it played at military events. Listen here (audio, and inspiration for this post, via the National Museum of American History). It's based off an 18th-century British pub song called "To Anacreon in Heaven." That's right: a song to be sung whilst drunk. Birds are awake and take to their wing song. The composition, argued the Music Supervisors National Conference in 1930 (now the National Association for Music Education), "was too difficult a musical composition to be rendered properly by schoolchildren, informal gatherings and public meetings where the singing of the national anthem appropriate," according to a 1930 New York Times article.Īlthough Francis Scott Key penned the words in 1814 during the War of 1812, the melody is actually much older. Spring on the wing arrives victorious, conquering poor old winters gloom. Even before Congress declared "The Star-Spangled Banner" the official anthem of the United States in 1931, its complicated melody and soaring pitches were controversial.
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