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A Star-Spangled Project
By Senator Larry Craig
August 10, 2006
On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key sat, terrified, detained by the
British Navy, in a ship in the Baltimore Harbor. The British
relentlessly bombarded the Harbor, to the point that Key thought they
certainly would triumph and occupy it. When the explosions stopped, when
the air cleared, when he could safely look outside after 25 hours of
continuous bombardment, he could see the Star-Spangled Banner they had
"so proudly hailed at twilights last gleaming" catching "the morning’s
first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream."
The moment of seeing Old Glory waving – tattered by the British, but
still standing, symbolizing the freedoms our Founders declared to the
whole world just 38 years earlier -- moved him to pen a poem that now
stands as our national anthem.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" reflects Key’s depth of emotion at realizing
that America, and all she stands for, had prevailed, evidenced by the
symbol waving in the morning breezes of Fort McHenry. The poem was put
to music, "Anacreon in Heaven" (attributed to a British composer named
John Stafford Smith), at the suggestion of Key’s brother-in-law, Judge
J.H. Nicholson. Most Americans recognize this music. It is the music
that drives us, instinctively, to stand, place our hands over our
hearts, and turn toward our flag, the symbol the song praises.
However, it is the words, not the music, that really comprise our
national anthem, and those words are unknown to a surprising two-thirds
of adult Americans. In fact, many can’t even tell you what our national
anthem is, and many don’t realize there are four verses.
Thankfully the National Association for Music Educators sparked a
project to remedy this by teaching children the national anthem. Titled
the National Anthem Project (
www.nationalanthemproject.org ), this effort has grown tremendously.
With sponsors from Jeep to the Oak Ridge Boys to the History Channel,
organizations and individuals across this land are working together to
teach Americans their national anthem.
I applaud their efforts and have been working to ensure there is
appropriate and necessary support from the federal government. An
amendment of mine was approved so that the Senate bill funding the U.S.
Department of Education encourages that agency to partner with the
National Anthem Project.
Teaching our children our national anthem will take more than donations
from corporations or taxpayers – it will take the effort of parents and
teachers. I encourage you, if you don’t already, to learn the words of
"The Star-Spangled Banner." You can view them at
http://www.tnap.org/lyrics.html.
Each time I hear it sung or read the lyrics, I’m moved. They are
powerful words talking about powerful ideas – ideas that shape our
country and make it the light it is to this world. I hope the words --
and, more important, the ideas -- don’t fade into history but are
preserved for generations to come. We owe it not only to those who
defended Old Glory in Baltimore Harbor in 1814, but to those future
citizens who will call this land of the free their country.
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Larry Scott
