Having studiously ignored in my blogging what the rest of the country is talking about non-stop, here is what I can think of to say just now:
God bless America
Land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the ocean, white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home!
**************************************
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Comments (20)
God did bless America
she put a knife in his back, and chains on his people
the blessings are over
Posted by ray | November 5, 2012 2:57 PM
America the Beautiful should be our national anthem.
(I'm not even going to address the above comment.)
Posted by MarcAnthony | November 5, 2012 3:29 PM
Thanks, MarcAnthony, it deserves all the ignoring it can get.
A lot of people do think that about "America the Beautiful," and understandably so.
But I must say, something unintentional, one of those odd and perhaps-not-quite-coincidental accidents of cultural and artistic history, has happened with the actual national anthem, of which we usually sing only one verse, "The Star-Spangled Banner." I happened not to quote it in the main post, but there is something unbelievably poignant about ending our singing with, "O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" Ending the verse with a question like that. Every once in a while, while one is listening to cheers and whistles and cries of, "Play ball!" it hits you: The open-ended question. Does it yet wave?
Posted by Lydia | November 5, 2012 3:56 PM
I'm very hopeful for America today. If Obama wins tomorrow, this will signify that we have fully reemerged from the chaos created by eight years of Republican maladministration. We now have Dodd-Frank restoring oversight over our financial system and ridding us of the inane ideology of deregulation that pushed us into economic collapse. And for the first time in America's history, we have a health insurance system. This means that our people will now enjoy the same economic freedom and flexibility -- to change a job or start a business -- as those of other industrialized nations. This is a great time for this country.
Posted by anonymouse (not Anymouse) | November 5, 2012 6:21 PM
Thanks for posting this, Lydia.
Posted by Beth Impson | November 5, 2012 6:28 PM
Well, there's too much wrong with that comment to begin to reply to it. Suffice it to say that I consider Obama and his policies to be a part of What's Wrong With the World and a part of the reason that we need to be "guided through the night." And if our current sorry situation--both economic and moral--is what it's like when we have "re-emerged from chaos," I'll hate to see what it's like when we've "re-emerged" even more.
Posted by Lydia | November 5, 2012 6:29 PM
Always gotta be "emerging" from something, eh what?
Posted by The Masked Elephant | November 5, 2012 6:32 PM
No matter what outcome tomorrow, Christendom loses.
Posted by Steve | November 5, 2012 7:09 PM
Posted by Thomas Yeutter | November 5, 2012 11:42 PM
That's an interesting take, Lydia. I do like our current national anthem. I think America the Beautiful is more beatiful (lyrics and music) in general, I think "The Star-Spangled Banner" depicts a historical situation too distinctive (like if we used "Battle Cry of Freedom" from the Civil War for our anthem, for example-or even, a song written specifically about Gettysburg. Too localized.), I think that it's nice to have an anthem that the majority of us can sing (it's well-known the current anthem is notoriously difficult), and there's certainly a distinct "Americaness" to it-the idea that no matter where we are in the nation, we're connected, because we're all Americans.
That question at the end of the first verse does have a certain poetic justice to it though. I don't dislike our current anthem, there are a lot of points in favor of it too. Just a preference thing, I guess.
Posted by MarcAnthony | November 6, 2012 12:43 AM
Count me among those who would prefer America the Beautiful (or God Bless America) to the Star Spangled Banner. The current anthem is difficult to sing and employs rather stilted language. About the only time it truly moved me was when the Brits played it after 9/11.
Apart from its own merits (or lack thereof) it's been done to death by hacks and well-meaning no-talents alike. We could use a fresh start if only to put the likes of Roseanne Barr behind us.
Posted by CJ | November 6, 2012 3:38 PM
CJ, I too don't like the Star-Mangled Banner, it is so often poorly done, especially by "stars". However, I did hear it on one occasion sung properly by a young lady, who not only hit all the right notes, but did it with fulsomeness and ease, that it sent shivers down my back. That was a year and a half ago, at my daughter's college graduation. I don't think, before that, that I had even realized how well it could come off. Ah, well, if it is impossible for 99.9% of Americans to sing it well, probably it doesn't do all that well as an anthem. On the other hand, it is a good warrior's song.
Posted by Tony | November 6, 2012 9:10 PM
To this day I still hold that the best ever rendition of our national anthem was sung by Whitney Houston during Super Bowl XXV. Around when Persian Gulf began. Absolutely inspired performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1QmeEdFOSc
Beautiful.
Posted by MarcAnthony | November 6, 2012 10:45 PM
Well, it's all over now and I guess the result is a big disappointment here at WWWW.
On the grounds that he doesn't need to curb his lefty-liberal inclinations in order to win the next presidential election, I suppose it's likely that Mr Obama will move further to the left in the next four years.
None of the current leaders in the western world inspire me with hopes of a better future, so I'm tempted to take refuge in Thomas Mann's dictum that "it is foolish to take politics seriously, to care about it, to sacrifice one's moral and intellectual strength to it. All one can do is survive, and preserve one's personal freedom and dignity".
Whatever happens, there's much more to life than politics.
Posted by Alex | November 7, 2012 3:45 AM
"Whatever happens, there's much more to life than politics."
Very true, but politics inevitably affects life. For instance I for one am not looking forward to my utility bills skyrocketing if B.O. gets his way w/r/t energy policy.
"the best ever rendition of our national anthem was sung by Whitney Houston during Super Bowl XXV"
No, no, no! That's what started the current trend in pop music of incessant melismatic wailing among female singers. As comedian Richard Jeni said, "Just sing the damn song!"
Posted by Shute T. Messenger | November 7, 2012 8:51 AM
Melisma has been a part of R&B, soul, and gospel music since forever. While Whitney Houston (and Mariah Carey) became the most high-profile practitioners, it's been a facet of all music influenced by black music since long before 1991.
Posted by CJ | November 7, 2012 9:52 AM
Yes of course, but unlike today it was primarily used as spice, not as substance. And it was not nearly so overwrought. In a lot of this junk vocal gymnastics has replaced singing (much of it being digitally enhanced anyways.)
Posted by Shute T. Messenger | November 7, 2012 10:22 AM
Heh, I figured I'd get a reaction like this from the ultra-conservatives around here (not that I don't count myself among them in most things).
I thought she hit the perfect balance. She changed it just enough to take advantage of her voice but didn't butcher the song or go on ludicrous unnecessary riffs. I thought she performed perfectly.
Posted by MarcAnthony | November 7, 2012 10:59 AM
Oh, goodness no. No, a thousand times no. MarcAnthony, Houston's is not the worst rendition of the song ever, but it is part of the whole cabal of wrecking and drecking it out of existence. She is right in there with the others.
Listen, one drop-dead, objective, definitive principle: when you are singing it in a crowd of Americans, you HAVE TO sing it so everyone can join along. Have to. This is non-negotiable. Houston wrinkles up the timing and rhythm so nobody can sing with her. That's just one aspect of the mess she makes. If you are not skillful enough to sing it so that everyone else can go along with you, and STILL put your own stamp on it (say, double-toning a long note that's written in one tone), then you are not skillful enough to make changes, and sing the darn song the way it's written or SHUT UP.
Posted by Tony | November 8, 2012 10:41 PM
I will admit a weakness for this rendition.
Posted by Tim | November 10, 2012 4:10 PM