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Thursday, January 21, 2010

§ I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: The Star-Spangled Banner

{Song #49 « Song #50 » Song #51}

§ ≡ One of an ongoing series of posts in which I pick, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best songs of the second millennium. Feel free to offer constructive dissenting opinions; preferably set to music.

Song #50 is The Star-Spangled Banner, written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889, and was made the National Anthem by a Congressional resolution on March 3, 1931, which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing, and many popular singers have flubbed it while attempting to "personalize" its rendition at the start of various team sporting events. One of the best renditions I have ever heard is the one presented below, sung by Ayla Brown, whose Dad is the newly-minted Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Star-Spangled Banner — Ayla Brown with the Boston Pops
h/t Secular Apostate



BONUS: Ayla Brown's (future) Mom appeared in this 1984-video for Boston-based musician Digney Fignus.

The Girl With the Curious Hand by Digney Fignus
h/t TheDC

Post #1,096 § I Am Music and I Pick the Songs: The Star-Spangled Banner

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