Since we were talking about anthems on the other Forum

[Mosiah]

I thought it was a good time to mention this little known fact about the US anthem.

First, there are 4 verses, yet only one is commonly sung. I know Jamaicans get upset when we sing only the first of our 2-verse anthem. Of course, we don't need to follow the US custom. However, according to the Jamaican authorities, there is some rule whereby it is ok for us to sing the first verse only, just can't recall it right now. But the point is, it is not imperative that both verses are sung all the time.

But I digress!

The 3rd verse of the American anthem has some very curious lines:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Maybe that's why they want people to think the US anthem has only one verse.

[Islandman]

Interesting. I never knew of this but it is hardly surprising.

It appears that Francis Scott Keys played a greater role in US history than just the writing of that athem.

"Key was not torn by slavery," says Morley, whose 2012 book, "Snow-Storm in August" chronicles the riot.

"He was pro-slavery, period. He thought that slavery was the white man's constitutional right, period. The kind of slave trafficking where the masters beat the hell out of black people did offend his humanitarian principles as a white liberal.

"But his solution wasn't to abolish slavery. It was to ask the slave masters to be nicer."

Leepson's book devotes considerable space to Key's role in co-founding the American Colonization Society, which sought to solve America's race problem by shipping thousands of free blacks (but no slaves) to Africa to establish a homeland there. The result is the modern nation of Liberia.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertai...726-story.html

[Willi]

"America the beautiful" anyone?

[Karl]

I thought it was a good time to mention this little known fact about the US anthem.

First, there are 4 verses, yet only one is commonly sung. I know Jamaicans get upset when we sing only the first of our 2-verse anthem. Of course, we don't need to follow the US custom. However, according to the Jamaican authorities, there is some rule whereby it is ok for us to sing the first verse only, just can't recall it right now. But the point is, it is not imperative that both verses are sung all the time.

But I digress!

The 3rd verse of the American anthem has some very curious lines:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Maybe that's why they want people to think the US anthem has only one verse.

A wah dat deh verse a she fada?

[Mosiah]

There are few explanations, as embarrassed America's try to cover up the racism embedded in the anthem itself.

The one that seems to make the most sense to me is that he was saying, slaves and hirelings, those who have signed up to fight for the British, will never never find refuge unless in the form of terror of flight as the army pursues you, or the grave.

God bless America!

[Islandman]

They should just formally drop the verse, since nobody sings it anyway.

It reminds me of one of my favorite Christian hymns, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and the disappointment I felt when I learnt it had a verse which has mostly been ommitted from modern hymn books.

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.

In other words, you are poor and suffering because that is how God wants it to be. Now sing the hymn and praise Him!

[Mosiah]

I felt the same way about that hymn. As opposed to many others, it was lively, fun to sing.

And then that verse, justified by my Religious Knowledge teacher at the time. SMH!

[Jangle]

Interesting.

[Muadib]

Wait a minute... Americans practiced slavery ?!

ah wheh di...

[Mosiah]

Colin Kaepernick's recent actions have pushed this issue to the forefront. Of course, I am elated! The national anthem of America bigs up slavery. Indeed, it was written by a slave owner and a staunch anti-abolitionist.

I could say more but I will allow you to form your opinions on Francis Scott Key and the anthem. Many of us are now citizens of America. Do we really know American history? I doubt it.

https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/...on-of-slavery/

[Reggaedoc]

I thought it was a good time to mention this little known fact about the US anthem.

First, there are 4 verses, yet only one is commonly sung. I know Jamaicans get upset when we sing only the first of our 2-verse anthem. Of course, we don't need to follow the US custom. However, according to the Jamaican authorities, there is some rule whereby it is ok for us to sing the first verse only, just can't recall it right now. But the point is, it is not imperative that both verses are sung all the time.

But I digress!

The 3rd verse of the American anthem has some very curious lines:

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Maybe that's why they want people to think the US anthem has only one verse.

That is why there is a Black National Anthem.