theory about the star spangled banner song

“These lyrics are a clear reference to the Colonial Marines, according to Jefferson Morley, author of ‘Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835.’ They are clearly meant to scorn and threaten the African Americans who took the British up on their offer, he wrote in a recent essay for The Washington Post. What the heck does THAT all mean? A conversation in the Washington Post may enlighten. O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. No refuge could save the hireling and slaveįrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution. That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusionĪ home and a Country should leave us no more? “Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto – ‘In God is our trust.'” The hireling and slave?īut to the best of my recollection, our songbook did not include that third verse, so I didn’t know it, though I was aware of its existence:Īnd where is that band who so vauntingly swore, Yeah, that last one IS rather Manifest Destiny. Plus the standard fare: America, America The Beautiful, Yankee Doodle, and The Battle Hymn Of The Republic. Dickinson, our music teacher had us singing a panoply of patriotic songs, such as Columbia, The Gem Of The Ocean. In fact, in our elementary school, Daniel S.

Good thing I wasn’t there because I would be dead. The theory was that NO one knows those except a spy feigning to be from the USA. If they knew the latter verses of the national anthem, they would be summarily shot. When a presumed fellow American soldier came through the terrain, the guards wanted to know if they were truly Yanks as claimed. This is, specifically, a World War II tale. I’ve been told that knowing the Star-Spangled Banner lyrics beyond the first verse could get one killed. But I’ve never been able to verify it to my satisfaction. I have heard this story multiple times over many years.

Theory about the star spangled banner song