The Star-Spangled Banner Question

As a musician, I've played the Star-Spangled Banner more times than I can count. Sometimes it feels routine, other times my thoughts got to the founding fathers, Francis Scott Key and the question “Does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”.

When Mr Key wrote those words, he did not yet know if the flag would still be waving in the morning due to the battle.  Nowadays, it's hard to not see the flag waving. But, turned on it's side, the question can be, are we still “the land of the free and the home of the brave?”. Are we free and brave? Are we lazy and spoiled? These are touchy questions. They can be answered both yes and no and I believe that our freedom is wasted if we do not challenge ourselves to answer them.

I am free. I speak my mind, I enjoy my professions, I am a good friend/brother/son to many, I support some charities with both time and money, I give…

I am not free. I have debt, I have doubt (not inherently a bad thing), I'm addicted to day-dreaming, I can be shy, I suffer, I grasp…

I am brave. I stir things up sometimes, I open myself up to attack, I don't let fear stop me from doing some things, I shine…

I am not brave. I fear being alone and I fear not being alone, I lose a sense of purpose, I let fear stop me from doing things sometimes, I hide…

Any people from outside the US, please don't feel excluded. Please join in, after all, you probably get better news coverage of the US anyway ;)

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Freedom is, like any other “condition” a fleeting thing. We have rested on the laurels for so many years, creating pearlized toilet seat covers, fancy dashboards for touring coaches (convertibles), days at the races, spending tons of money on too much of nothing, while only claiming we fought for this freedom. I have turned myself on my side many times in life, & at almost 53, am doing it again. Each act I do (or DON'T do, cause I value inactivity too much ;)   is either towards the moment I was given, to claim my freedom of life, mind, & Spirit, or to deny it by NOT claiming it. 
I believe we, as a Countyr need to get together & re-write our own Purpose & Mission Statements for ourselves, find what we have in common, & find ways to combine our individual missions & the commons' and take action. The “old system” such as it is, ALLOWS for that. Instead of rewriting the old system (it is WONDERFUL as it was written) use it to create in each moment, network, and move forward, in a living, whole organic free by being & creating body of people in the Good New U.S. of A!
Be ON!

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

The Forefathers created a system based on their experience that would counter-act the natural tendency of government to turn tyrannical. The system is flawless however, it is dependent on one asset, this asset is VIGILANCE.

They warned us against becoming apathetic against this threat and low and behold we have long been without a watchtower against tyranny.

Without vigilance we have sunk lower into a pit of moral destitution, apathism and greed and our politic has reflected this. The natural pull towards tyranny that all leaderships endure will continue forever but only vigilance keeps it at bay. We have lost that vigilance and thus we have lost our freedom.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

    Do you wake up every morning scared to state your opinion? i know i dont, I know I am free, and brave. the most brave people of us all are the people fighting to save our freedom while we sit on our butts watching the corrupt news and talk bad about those who are protecting us. We are free as long as we support those trying to protect us and our freedom.
    Being free isnt trying to be as different as possible and going to the extreems to try and prove it. Being free is being able to watch the news and form our own opinion or even something as small as choosing what you want to wear in the morning. I am free because i choose to fight for my freedom. I dont just sit there and expect people to do it for me…thats being lazy.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

    Do you wake up every morning scared to state your opinion? i know i dont, I know I am free, and brave. the most brave people of us all are the people fighting to save our freedom while we sit on our butts watching the corrupt news and talk bad about those who are protecting us. We are free as long as we support those trying to protect us and our freedom.
    Being free isnt trying to be as different as possible and going to the extreems to try and prove it. Being free is being able to watch the news and form our own opinion or even something as small as choosing what you want to wear in the morning. I am free because i choose to fight for my freedom. I dont just sit there and expect people to do it for me…thats being lazy.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Thanks Hazzard  I love the vigilance story.

We have a constant alertness - willingness to fight back

The Declaration of Independence is a magican piece

It is embarrassing how spiraled down our system is and I feel it

is our time to roll up our sleeves and make a better tomorrow.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Hi there, consider putting your rights to freedom into social action!  Why not create your own non-profit and raise money for say, The Freedom in Action Project!  For people who have a cause inside of them, why not put our turn-key philanthropy system to work for you and even get paid to do it through our own non-profit!

Cheering you on for FREEDOM!
Audrey
The Foundation Lady
“building the foundation of people's lives….”

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Hi Patrick, why leverage the giving you are already doing for your charities and start your own non-profit!  Put our turn-key philanthropy system to work for you!  Please check out my page and register for the next FREE webinar on how our system works and how you can use it to move your mission(s) forward into the world (and fund them!)

Cheering you on for FREEDOM!
Audrey
The Foundation Lady
“building the foundation of people's lives…”

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

DahJewel…consider putting your passion into social action by starting your own non profit.  I can help!  Check out my page and register for the next FREE webinar.  Our turn-key philanthropy system gives you the structure and support to legally raise funds for your causes and take your passion down the road of life!

Cheering you on!
Audrey
The Foundation Lady
“Building the Foundation of People's Lives….”

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Capitalism can also leave a nasty taste in your mouth. But that is another discussion all together ;).

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Patrick said

Any people from outside the US, please don't feel excluded. Please join in

I guess England counts as being outside the US so that must include me!

I can't really comment about the situation over there but I was drawn to participate in the discussions. Being an old geezer, in the last ten years I have finally learned to acknowledge those things to which I am intuitively inclined to pay attention. The outcome of my doing so in this instance is to take phrases from each person's comments that stand out for me - even if they appear to have been taken out of context - so here goes J

(I feel I could send a few people to sleep as I sense a steam of verbal diarrhea coming on!)

Patrick also said

Are we free and brave?

Freedom - ultimately irrespective of circumstances it comes down to personal choice in one's perspective. The only reason I do not to feel brave is on the occasion that I lose connection with my self, what I choose to stand for and why. Unfortunately in the past that is because I have allowed my mind to rule the roost.

I am not free. I have debt

I am in debt - to a far greater degree than I have ever been in my life, at a time when I have more family responsibilities then ever before and, if fearful projections were allowed to dominate then, I have never before ever had so much to lose. But I am free and I am grateful for that debt for without it I would not have the understanding that has enabled me to know that truly I AM free and have the choice to be so.

DahJewel said

to create in each moment

It is a bit of a cliché to say that all there is, is the present moment. However, being always present is not exactly the easiest of things to achieve - although it is getting simpler to do. What is probably not so difficult is to realise that we naturally and continually create something new all the time - which I guess means in every moment. Each and everyone of us creates at least at three levels in this 3-D world we inhabit - and do so by what we think, what we say, and what we do. Each of these impacts on the others and affects how we feel, how we react and how we relate to one another and to ourselves - so I guess in the whole question of are we, or am I free - attention ought to be given to significant self observation.  

Hazzard said

The natural pull towards tyranny that all leaderships endure will continue forever but only vigilance keeps it at bay.

I feel absolutely thrilled to be alive at this juncture in the evolution of mankind. It is fabulous. For me the concept of leadership is probably very different from some views on the subject. Leadership in my experience has three faces, the first is the leadership that appears to have been born, the second is the leadership that is learned and the third and most profound is the leadership available to everybody and that is the one that is born from choice. This is the choice to first of all to dare to believe in yourself, second to experiment being yourself and third is to discover yourself and what you truly stand for - that thing that makes your soul sing and is your passion.

Rhawnie said

Do you wake up every morning scared?

Yep, at least I used to ….. and oh how good was I at doing it yet people saw me as successful and confident J - how good are we as actors - we all deserve an Academy award for our performances

~KES said

I feel it is our time

It surely is n't anyone else's so I wonder why we spend a heck of a lot of it either in the past (that's not freedom surely) or the future what ifs (that ain't either) and yet we might argue we are highly logical. Does that feel like I have my head up my **se?

The Foundation Lady said

leverage the giving you are already

This is an interesting phrase for me to notice so I am wondering about the meaning …… Aha …. The aha is the gift is me (and you, and you, and you) but the leverage only comes when the gift is clear to view, is untarnished and therefore has to be me being me, openly, unashamedly, truthfully and increasingly confidently - because paradoxically in seemingly exposing my self and allowing an air of vulnerability in so doing the fear evaporates. Somewhere rumour has it there is a quote about “The truth will set us free!” Ah  …. Nice link, I did not expect that. Ho ho.

Hazzard said

Capitalism can also leave a nasty taste in your mouth.

As can socialism, and charity and religion, and sympathy and many, many more things.

But MONEY now that is something else! MONEY is one of the greatest assets and gifts the world has ever experienced as a tool for our personal development and evolution. It is magnificent! And on that note, it is time for tea!

J

Pete

p.s. excuse any English spellings - it's my explanation for being an illiterate!

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

SO GLAD TO SEE SUCH A DIALOG!

I was clearing out my mailbox this morning and ran across this thread, a day late for the holiday itself, yet as on-time as present time ever is!!

I would not go as far as saying, “we've lost our freedom,” yet, it is fast approaching such an outcome.  Jeopardy has attached, as the more legally oriented would say.  AND, this truly Should disturb us enough to rethink our apathetic tendencies to think. “Let  someone else  say something about this because I'm so busy, I don't have time…” ad naseum.

Yesterday, I posted to the Zaadz Q&A on my blog and I think it would have been most fitting to have  posted here instead.

After I posted, we went out to CELEBRATE and enjoy all the feasting our friends could muster for the picnic, and a great sharing it was. 

Amazingly, we met a new friend who was a very “lay those cards on the table and le'ts not mince any words over it!” kind of guy.  We fittingly talked over how we can exercise our involvement with our freedom obligations and lodge our discontent of those who do not comprehend the obligations of action that ensure freedom's continuation.  Such a discussion was the quintessential way to CELEBRATE this day.

It was pretty cool.  (Oops! such phraseology gives my age, at least in decades,  away, eh??!)

All to Love, Sharon

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Sharon, you can't be any older than a swinging sixteen or alternatively a quintagenate (?). It seems everyone is using “cool” these days from my kids to my colleagues. I can't undestand why people don't use proper english like “spiffing” or “jolly good” :)

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

This is a great question. Yes, I have debt, and that does not equate to financial freedom. (I think I've found a job though, woo-hoo! - very close.)

I saw new things in my back yard today. There’s a hydrangea bush under the wisteria. I either didn’t see it last year, or it didn’t bloom last year. The blue blossoms are bursting out – right there next to the patio – with more green ones on top ready to go! And more wisteria is blooming in the lovely purple shades on new light green vines that are winding out to embrace the air. Not only that, there’s a plum tree! And the plums are edible! Oh my gosh. I don’t remember them ripening last year; they just fell off, green. I can’t tell you how excited I got, and how much praise I shared with God and the Universe, after seeing that and taking a taste! Maybe I can make jelly!

My backyard here is a multitude of abundance – there’s richness everywhere. The new herbs I planted, rosemary and basil, are thriving along with all the others I planted last year, and the three tomato plants have yellow blossoms on them; even three tiny tomatoes. I just went to embrace them right now – that smell of a tomato plant on your hand…what is it about that? I don’t ever want to wash it off! It’s such an earthy, warm, sensuous smell – there’s nothing quite like it. And I’ve had lots of wonderful raspberries. There’s a plethora of abundance right there in my back yard.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

And as grateful as we all are for what those men did for our sake hundreds of years later, we still are sleepwalking into the very same tyranny that Britain represented to them, an enemy they felt was worth sacrificing everything to stop.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

That flag has waved over the decimation of many tribes of indians, the slaughter and robbery of mexican land in two wars, over the gulags of guantanamo and iguana, the robbery of the Hawaiian islands by the marines, the overthrow of governments all over the world for the purpose of exploitaion by big business and now we have turned a semi-republican nation into a near police state fascist empire that spends more on weaponry than the whole world does combined financed by debt which is our legacy to our kids while we wave that flag over lands we illegally, immorally invaded and occupied for the theft of our addiction; black gold.
No, no, kind sir. Eistein was right; “Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind”. He also said: “This disgrace should be done away with at once. Heroism on command,senseless violence and all that loathsome nonesense that goes by the name of Patriotism”. The america that i want does not torture, does not run secret prisons, does not spy on its own people while it allows the rich to rob the poor, posioning it’s people with processed foods and chemicals all in the pursuit of profit while the citizenry is duped into believing they are the ‘greatest in the world’ and have a monoply on values and ethics as their military goes galavanting throughout the world,anywhere it wants to ,doing anything it wants to to whomever it wants to. The world is not a game of chess or risk to be used for hedonic purposes. So many crimes are flown when you fly a flag, so many mistakes, over so many years over so many dead. Any questions, i can elaberate much further.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

What is the answer? Wherein lies peace?

I just finished reading the final Harry Potter chapter. And, I saw the movie (two books behind) last weekend. I'm also a Star Wars fan.

What is the answer? Wherein lies peace?

These movies and books may look like just science fiction or an attempt to believe magic is real… I happen to agree. We really don't need wands or light sabers. Yet they are such a more elegant weapon than blasters.

“No!  Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”  - Yoda, George Lucas, “The Empire Strikes Back.”


Love, Laura

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Hypocrisy is a bitch aint it?

Thank you for taking off the kid gloves.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

As a service member serving in the oldest military branch (US Army), assigned to one of the oldest Infantry units (1/175th IN, founded in 1775), and located down the road from Fort McHenry, the Star Spangled Banner still expresses the meaning that our founding fathers intended.  We are the home of the free, why else does so many people want to come and live in this great nation (legally and illegally).  We are the home of the brave: despite the issues surrounding this current conflict, men and women are still joining the armed forces, EMS, and other civic organizations. 
We offer freedom of speech, religion, press, and many other rights not offered in other countries.  We are not perfect, sometimes as a country we give a distorted expression of our freedom, we are sometimes disrespectful, we are many times full of ourselves.  At the same time, many more express to the world who we truly are and use our freedom wisely.
Readers from the US, pay respect to the flag as it passes by or when our anthem is played: remove your hat, place your hand on your heart, don't allow politics to dictate the actions, the honor given to the flag is for all those service members from 1775 (1689 for those first National Guard folks) to present time who have died in both peacetime and war, our EMS, and other heroes in our country who makes this country great.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

I will not worship a flag; I will not glorify violence.

Karl

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

     I understand that the thread is about the song Star Spangled Banner, not the flag.  My view is I support and defend the Constitution of the United States (as a noncombatant since the US Code does not allow me to bear arms because of my role in the Army) that gives you the right to not worship the flag, although I do not condone worship of an object anyway!!!

     Some respect should be given for those who have died, whether they are military, police, firefighter, peace activist, EMT, etc.  Remember, it is the civilian politicians in the goverment that make the decision to go to war, not the military service members (and I include the generals in that).  Service members volunteered to enter the military for many reasons and swear an oath (many under God) to support and defend the constitution and to follow the orders given from above. 

      Don't worship the flag but find some form of respect that agrees with your belief for those who have died that the flag represents.

     Lets keep the thread on the topic, the words that make up the Star Spangled Banner.  If I sidetracked about the flag, my apologizes, it is due to the close proximity I am to Fort McHenry!!!

PAX!!!

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

I'm not the one who raised the issue of the flag.  In any case, in what way does the flag equate solely to the military and paramilitary?  If I do buy a flag, I will fly it upside-down, to honor those who have lost their freedom by acting on their consciences, instead of blindly following orders.

Karl

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Service member do lead by their conscience and if you actually read my posts, you will see that I do not limit to servicemembers and that I admitted that I could of accidently turned the thread into a flag focused thread instead of the original intention.  I never made a claim that you did it. 
Be advised that if you choose to fly your flag upside down it is considered that you are in distress.  If a police officer stops to check, you could be fined in you are not in distress.

This debate is now closed for public discussion so the thread can get back on the track that the founded intended.

PAX

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

If it's all the same to you, I'll decide for myself as to whether I'll continue to post to the thread.  I don't believe I refered to anyone other than myself in any of my posts.  Thanks for the advice about flying the flag upside-down; I was aware of that.

Karl

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

If it's all the same to you, I'll decide for myself as to whether I'll continue to post to the thread.  I don't believe I refered to anyone other than myself in any of my posts.  Thanks for the advice about flying the flag upside-down; I was aware of that.

Karl

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Bonjour!

Hazzard makes the cogent point that people who don't keep an eye on their governing bodies and hold them accountable to the yoke of the people's will, risk losing the freedom they are taking for granted. 

Apathy, ignorance, naivety, “being too busy,” arrogance, etc. are dangerous entertainments or distractions that beget a certain idleness of inaction that plays out as a passive permission “We the People” are granting to those in our political offices. 

Largely,  have we not lost sight of our obligations and the true nature of freedom's need for preservation as an imperative that is not really a negotiable responsibility?

I'm grateful to be an American, yet, I weep over a growing cavalier attitude that doesn't consider political involvement as a “spiritual enough” activity to warrant an “enlightened” response. 

I force myself to get involved with the issues I deem I can't afford the distortion the legislature is considering making into law or policy.  I go to the state Capital, and get in front of some of my Representatives and Senators and make them answer my questions to my face.  Sure, they hate it, and so do I.

I paticipate in phone trees that flood the switchboards with our ire and demands for certain responses that we want and not some castration of our choices. 

Do I enjoy this? NO!  I do it anyway.  Why?  Because I must if I value my freedom of choices to be maintained. 

I've accepted this aspect of freedom in a world where leadership is hostile to it, where money rules the moral climates.

This is a tough pill to swallow.  I know its gall well. Yet, I also recognize the wisdom of our founding fathers and I respect their admonitions. They made those calls for vigilance with such an ardor and candidness, and passion that it reaches into present time as they intended. 

We know what they meant; we know they were talking to every generation born under that Star Spangled Banner… and that does mean us, AND our children, AND their children, et al.

I'd like to briefly comment to Michael.  I appreciate your point of view.  Yet, can it not be enfolded into an even bigger picture of people like myself, and you, and others who see the folly and mockery our leaders are making of this nation, and let that be an impetus for our taking actions that will oust those betraying our  freedoms, rather than equating our symbol of freedom and unity into a sign of degradation?

Ours is a government “of the people, by the people, for the people;” that is if we should so apprise our selves of our obligations as citizens tuning-in to our empowerment to act and preserve.

I would like to add enCOURAGEment to everyone who reads this that every action no matter how small is added to the next giving us more power than we can imagine.  We do make a difference, I've been at the political junctions enough to know that IF ENOUGH people call, they DO listen and back away from the lobbyists” agendas.  We have more  influence to make the political offices “hot seats” if we choose to make it so.

All to Love,  Sharon

PS  Is not the flag meant to be a symbol of our unity? 

Doesn't any repugnance with the flag eventually find its root in our reluctance to be vigilant and active ousting the beliers out of office, and supporting those attempting to serve the freedoms of the people being governed? 

I think many Americans need a heart -to-heart within themselves on what it means to be an American if we hope to remain Americans who are free.  My Spirit demands freedom as a minimal requirement for the expression of my Being.  And yours?

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose -it was good enough for (whoever) and Bobby Mcgee.

-just thought you all needed a bit of humor.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

How much fun to ask a question, ignore it for awhile and read passionate, humorous and disparate responses!
You have given much more to think about and reflect upon for the next time I “have” to play it.
By the way, who knew that the melody for the Star-Spangled Banner was taken from a British drinking song, “Anachreon in Heaven”?
Hazzard's comment about  “vigilance” rang very true to me as vigilance, being free and being brave rely on each other.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

It is humorous from whence the music came!  If anybody ever has the opportunity to go to Washington DC pay a visit to the American History Museum at The Mall.  There is a display about the Star-Spangled Banner and you can see the flag being restored and hear the original tune.  The current rendition is much better than the original but the original makes for a good chuckle.

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

I think it's funny, I've played the “Star Spangled Banner” hundreds of times and know that it was based on an English drinking song, has a very hard range to sing, people always forget the words…hell according to one survey only 30% of the US population even know all the words to the first verse.  So I don't know what it's supposed to represent…all I know is if you are well off and white this is the greatest country in the world…if you are poor and a minority it's not that great. If you study history you will see the country hasn't gotten bad over the years, read “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” , before each chapter it gives a brief history of what was going on at the time…stolen presidential elections, rich people cheating the poor out of their savings…so nothing has really changed.

Look at the German writer and philosopher (I forget his name), he was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis for his writings…when the Russians freed the camp they arrested him as a spy and sent him to a prison…he was freed and lived in a democratic France….he hung himself because as his writings said he could not tell the difference between any of the different forms of goverment.

Freedom is not a country or policy it rest in ones mind and soul. 

Re: The Star-Spangled Banner Question

“the “Star Spangled Banner” ……. people always forget the words…hell according to one survey only 30% of the US population even know all the words to the first verse.” 

Well, don't feel too bad.  Probably a whole heck of a lot less Canadians know the Canadian National Anthem “O(h) Canada!” (depending on whom you ask).  We have the additional problem that there is an English version and a French Version, which are inter-tangled when it is sung at public events, to reflect our supposedly English-French duality here.  The other problem is that the French version just doesn't equate to the English version - so even if you knew the English version, and wanted to do a quick translation on the fly if you were singing it along with most of the people who don't know it, you'd be hard pressed to get anywhere near the right words in it.  And then there's the fact that a large chunk of the immigrants who've come to Canada across the last 10-20 years don't speak either language as a first tongue, so learning either version is a major challenge for them (not that many of them will ever care to know it, beyond being required to know at least the first verse in English or French in order to become citizens).

Personally, I'd like to see the Canadian National Anthem returned to the one I learned even before O(h) Canada! - that being The Maple Leaf Forever.  Somehow, it didn't have a French version though, so when Mr. Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his fore-runner Prime Minister Mr. Pearson shoved bilingualism, the metric system and that ridiculous Red Maple Leaf flag (to coincide with Mr. Trudeau's “red” side - he was reported to be a closet card-carrying commie) down our throats, somehow the more bilingual “O(h) Canada!” got picked instead.  The Maple Leaf Forever just had too many words in it that tied it heavily to the British, for the comfort of the seeming endless stream of Quebecer's that we blindly elect for Prime Ministers (not that Mr. Harper is any charmer, either).

And so it goes……

Cheers!

Gem :-)

PS:  Actually, having been raised in Windsor, Ontario just outside of Detroit, Michigan, and watched many a baseball game from my granddad's lap, I DO know all the words of the first verse of The Star Spangled Banner, and I love hearing it sung well.