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The very fact this controversy was surprising may be the most significant thing about it. Much of the debate generated by Kaepernick has been on subjects directly connected to his actions: police brutality, free speech, and the rights and obligations of professional athletes.īut it’s also sparked nationwide discussion of something more tangential that no one saw coming - the meaning and history of “The Star-Spangled Banner” itself, including whether it should be rewritten or replaced entirely. I have left all pickup notes as eighth notes, since it is easier to edit those in case musicians would like to change the rhythms.San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem before the team’s preseason game against the San Diego Chargers on Sept. In the version on the LOC website, the song is written in a 6/4 time signature. In the early publications of the song, we can see several different rhythms used. Sometimes the pickup notes at the beginning of the song and elsewhere in the piece are played as a dotted eighth - sixteenth note rhythm. Note that there are many different rhythmic interpretations of the song today. In 1931, president Herbert Hoover signed a law that declared the Star Spangled Banner to be the national anthem of the Unite States. The Smithsonian website also has interesting information on the original song, Anacreon in Heaven. To learn more about the history of the song and see some fascinating images of original versions of the poem and sheet music, visit the Library of Congress Star Spangled Banner webpage. Nevertheless, the melody was also popular in America, and Key’s poem fit the rhythm of the song. Ironically, Smith was British, and he wrote the song for an English gentlemen’s society that promoted music. Key set the poem to a melody called Anacreon in Heaven, which was written by John Stafford Smith. On the morning of September 14, 1814, after a long battle in which the British were heavily favored to win, Key awoke to see that “our flag was still there.” He set to work on the poem which would eventually become the national anthem of the USA. Just a few weeks earlier, the British had burned much of Washington, including the White House, and they were now bombing Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Key, who was a lawyer from Georgetown in Washington, DC, was on a ship near the Baltimore Harbor in the final days of the War of 1812. The history of Francis Scott Key’s Star Spangled Banner is well known, and it tells the story of a very important military victory for the United States. There are also links to the song for piano, recorder, woodwind, brass, and string instruments. Scroll down for a lead sheet for The Star Spangled Banner that includes the melody and chords, with versions of the song in seven different keys. Star Spangled Banner lead sheet with chords