The Star Spangled Banner
Frances Scott Keys
This is a ripper of a tune, and the words aren't bad, either. Oddly enough, it was written during the War of 1814, which I don't remember ever learning anything about.
O, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars in the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
O, say, does that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation
Blessed with victory and peace may this heaven rescued land
Bless the power that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must when our cause it is just
And this be our motto "In God is our trust".
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Listen and watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKp29Luryc
Something about Flags
On the surface, there are some obvious things that make America and Americans different from Australia and Australians. Language – accent, spelling, lexicon. What side of the road to drive on. Guns. Equality.
Flags. More specifically, the national flag.
Certainly around the northeast of the country – real Yankee-land – the American flag is on frequent display. Around the centre of almost any town, there will be lots of flags, mostly on their own flagpoles, but some attached to the side of a building, some draped across a window.
This picture shows Lenny and his wife, Kathy, in his man cave, flag pinned to the wall.
Lenny, the American flag, Kathy
There was a flagpole in the backyard of 57 Cleveland Ave. On any day celebrating the nation – Veterans Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July – the flag would be raised early in the morning. At sunset, it would be ceremoniously lowered and folded according to a strict protocol.
The flag should not be allowed to touch the ground. This means it generally takes two people to fold it, stretching it out between them like a kid helping Mum to fold the sheets. We were taught from a very young age the accepted way to fold the flag.
I think most countries have some sort of flag code but I’ve never heard much about it in Australia.
