O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of "The Star-Spangled Banner"

by Mark Clague

Overview

A New York Times Editors' Choice

The fascinating story of America’s national anthem and an examination of its powerful meaning today.

Most Americans learn the tale in elementary school: During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key witnessed the daylong bombardment of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry by British navy ships; seeing the Stars and Stripes still flying proudly at first light, he was inspired to pen his famous lyric. What Americans don’t know is the story of how this everyday “broadside ballad,” one of thousands of such topical songs that captured the events and emotions of early American life, rose to become the nation’s one and only anthem and today’s magnet for controversy.

In O Say Can You Hear? Mark Clague brilliantly weaves together the stories of the song and the nation it represents. Examining the origins of both text and music, alternate lyrics and translations, and the song’s use in sports, at times of war, and for political protest, he argues that the anthem’s meaning reflects—and is reflected by—the nation’s quest to become a more perfect union. From victory song to hymn of sacrifice and vehicle for protest, the story of Key’s song is the story of America itself.

Each chapter in the book explores a different facet of the anthem’s story. In one, we learn the real history behind the singing of the anthem at sporting events; in another, Clague explores Key’s complicated relationship with slavery and its repercussions today. An entire is chapter devoted to some of the most famous performances of the anthem, from Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock to Roseanne Barr at a baseball game to the iconic Whitney Houston version from the 1991 Super Bowl. At every turn, the book goes beyond the events to explore the song’s resonance and meaning.

From its first lines Key’s lyric poses questions: “O say can you see?” “Does that banner yet wave?” Likewise, Clague’s O Say Can You Hear? raises important questions about the banner; what it meant in 1814, what it means to us today, and why it matters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393651386
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	504,035
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Mark Clague is professor of musicology and American culture at the University of Michigan, associate dean at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and codirector of the American Music Institute. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

Chapter I American Dreams: Francis Scott Key and the Writing of The Star-Spangled Banner 1

Chapter 2 Urigins of a Melody: The Music of The Star-Spangled Banner 34

Chapter 3 Banner Ballads: The Many Lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner 57

Chapter 4 The Banner at War: A Song Sanctified 84

Chapter 5 Play Ball!: The Banner in Sports 115

Chapter 6 Singing Citizenship: A Tradition of Dissent 145

Chapter 7 Nation in Translation: Language and the Politics of Belonging 162

Chapter 8 The Anthem and Black Lives: An American History 178

Chapter 9 Performing Patriotism: Musical Style as Social Symbol 212

Postlude Composing Nation 242

Acknowledgments 251

Notes 257

Illustration Credits 307

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/25/2022

Musicologist Clague debuts with a sparkling study of America’s national anthem. He recounts how the successful defense of Baltimore’s Fort McHenry against the British navy’s bombardment during the War of 1812 inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key—who witnessed the battle from an unarmed “truce ship” in the city’s harbor—to describe the event in lyrics set to the tune of an 18th-century song composed by Englishman John Stafford Smith. Such “newspaper ballads,” Clague explains, were “the viral meme, tweets, and TikToks of early America.” Noting that “no other song of the era became so broadly popular so fast,” Clague analyzes the lyrics’ “volatile emotional journey, from fear and uncertainty through relief and pride, to anger and determination, to pious gratitude and prayer, and finally to patriotic devotion,” and examines alternative versions penned to support abolition, unionization, and other progressive causes. He also vividly recreates noteworthy performances, including Jimi Hendrix’s psychedelic reinterpretation at Woodstock, Roseanne Barr’s profane recital in front of an MLB crowd, and Whitney Houston’s stirring rendition at the 1991 Super Bowl. Stuffed with colorful character sketches, intriguing historical arcana, and memorable musical insights, this pitch-perfect history hits all the right notes. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"[A] deeply felt and meticulously researched study that all Americans should read and linger over."

Washington Independent Review of Books - Peggy Kurkowski

"A fascinating, illuminating contribution to our understanding of the history of the ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ from its storied birth during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814 to its place today as a cornerstone of twenty-first century culture wars centering on Americans’ emotional attachment to the Stars and Stripes. Highly recommended."

Marc Leepson

"[an] immensely interesting and readable history."

New York Times - Peter Sagal

"Mark Clague’s book O Say Can You Hear? jumpstarts a vital conversation about the current relationship of America and Americans to the national anthem. Using “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a lens to examine American history, Clague addresses issues of race, racism, politics, and performance with precision, compassion, insight, and the utmost care.  "

Louise Toppin

"In contemporary culture wars, where everything gets reduced to partisan politics, Clague’s thoughtful and comprehensive history will resonate."

Booklist (starred review) - Mark Knoblauch

"A fascinating history of America's national anthem that examines the origin of the song and the many ways it has been used."

Star Tribune - Glenn A. Altschuler

"A thoughtful and elegant history of America's national anthem."

The Economist

"Once a song of unity for a narrow vision of our nation, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ has become more controversial as we learn more about its author and history. Drawing on thorough and insightful research, Mark Clague deftly illuminates the many meanings of a complicated anthem."

Alan Taylor

"In O Say Can You Hear? Mark Clague shows that the genesis and evolution of our cherished national anthem was always a lightning rod for argument. It is a necessary, timely, and inspiring read."

Thomas Hampson

"[O Say Can You Hear] matches rigorous scholarship with clear, engaging writing on a wide range of anthem-related questions."

Colin Woodard

"[V]ibrantly readable..."

Detroit Free Press - Neal Rubin

"After reading O Say Can You Hear?, those approximately two minutes before each and every American sporting event now have even greater significance for me."

Jim Steeg

06/01/2022

Clague (musicology and American culture, Univ. of Michigan) writes a historical and cultural account of the United States national anthem, which through wars and peace, civil and cultural unrest, and on battlefields and ballfields, has played an (ahem) key role in the national consciousness since Francis Scott Key penned his four (yes, four) verses after experiencing the Siege of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. As Clague recounts, the anthem has famously been sung by Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin—and infamously by Rosanne Barr; been orchestrated by Stravinsky; and been performed as an electric guitar solo at Woodstock by Jimi Hendrix. Clague reveals that (thought Key deserves credit for the anthem's lyric imagery) rarely is it acknowledged that the melody was composed by Englishman John Stafford Smith, who composed the tune as the club anthem for a music fraternity in London and published it under the title "The Anacreontic Song." Clague does an excellent job tracing the tune back to its origin while detailing the way it entered the nation's consciousness and has been used as a societal bellwether ever since, having both united people and created divisions. It's a fascinating and enlightening story, well told here. VERDICT An excellent and comprehensive history of the music and lyrics of the United States' national anthem, Clague's book should be in every library.—Bill Baars

Library Journal

2022-04-16
A fresh look at Francis Scott Key’s iconic verses.

A music historian and professor of musicology, Clague finds in America’s national anthem “a surprisingly rich archive offering insight into the conflicts and complexities that forged the United States.” Written by Key in 1814 after he witnessed America’s triumph over the British in Baltimore’s harbor, the lyrics appeared under the title “Defence of Fort McHenry” and were quickly reprinted in at least 37 newspapers, “riding and reinforcing a wave of patriotic optimism.” Contrary to the myth that Key penned his verses quickly on scrap paper, Clague finds that he composed them over “at least sixty hours,” shaping the words to fit a familiar melody that had been composed by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century London social club. Acclaimed from the start, the anthem became increasingly popular in the North during the Civil War as an expression of “strength, resolve, and unity.” In the South, many wrote parodies of the song. Since 1851, more than 100 translations (including by First Nations) have been published in more than 40 languages. Although Congress ratified the piece as the nation’s official anthem only in 1931, its status by then had been “long enjoyed in civil ritual.” Because the complete version extols freedom and refers to both freemen and enslaved people, the anthem has elicited “conflicted feelings in the Black community” and provoked controversy about whether it offers “an inclusive vision of American identity.” Clague provides an informative elucidation of the anthem’s language for 19th-century listeners while conceding that Key—and his listeners—shared an assumption of White supremacy. Though Key represented Blacks who sued for their freedom, he also owned slaves, and although he believed slavery was morally wrong, “nothing he said or wrote that survives in the historical record suggests that he believed Blacks could ever be equal to whites.”

An engaging cultural history.

Kirkus Reviews