Spanish National Anthem

[Bong30]

Just do away with the lyrics completely and go with the Hendrix version.

Did you just say....
get rid of the words to the national anthem?

How many languages can you say GO FUCK YOUR SELF..in?

Hendrix version is good............Your problem is, you dont understand that THOSE WORDS MEAN SOMETHING...........


take the words out of the national anthem............OMG what is this world coming to.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics were written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland by British ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812. It became well known as a patriotic song to the tune of a popular English song, "To Anacreon in Heaven." It was recognized for official use by the United States Navy (1889) and by the White House (1916), and was made the national anthem by a Congressional resolution on March 3, 1931. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today.

[andyandy]

altogether now......

¿El Oh, opinión puede usted ver, por la luz temprana del amanecer, qué nosotros granizó tan orgulloso en destellar pasado del crepúsculo? ¿De quién amplias rayas y estrellas brillantes, con la lucha peligrosa, O'er los terraplenes que miramos, tan galantemente fluÃ*amos? Y el fulgor rojo de los cohetes, las bombas que estallaban en aire, dio la prueba con la noche que nuestra bandera todavÃ*a estaba allÃ*. ¿Opinión de O, esa bandera estrella-star-spangled todavÃ*a agita O'er la tierra del libre y el hogar del valiente?

i think it sounds pretty good in spanish....don't know what all the fuss is about

[xblackdogx]

bong-
no response on my last post...
did i repay the favor of "handing you your ass" on
the price costs and how they will not go back down

shit, even i can acknowledge when i was wrong

[Myth1184]

It never ends..........
Now they wanna sing the NA in Spanish, I just heard on the news. Bush actually said something intelligent for a change, he said if they wanna come over (immigrants) they need to learn English and sing the NA in English!!!
Hurrayy Bush!!!!:dance:

I notice the Liberal media is staying around from this story, CNN has a short 5 minute thing on it, where they neglected to mention that the Spanish version the words have been changed.

[andyandy]

English isnt the official language of the US....so why the fuss? 30 million Americans speak Spanish - why pretend that they don't? So what if someone releases a version of the national anthem in spanish? It's not like Congress are passing a law to change it....its just someone making a CD! I could book a studio, record a version of "God save the Queen" in Arabic - and no-one would give a fuck....it certainly wouldnt make national news or motivate people to write long nationalistic rants on message boards....
having a version of the national anthem in spanish available in the shops isnt going to have any effect on society....why would it? Are Hispanic kids gonna buy it and think.."right well, i dont need to learn english anymore - cos i was only learning it to express my patriotism to the country, and i can do that in spanish now...." ?? Utterly ludicrous.....

[Bong30]

All Four Stanzas

By Isaac Asimov

Introductory Note. Unless you're already well acquainted with our "national anthem," this interesting piece by the late Isaac Asimov will be an eye-opener. It was for me. It's especially appropriate at a time when there is much talk of tossing out this difficult-to-sing and difficult-to-comprehend old song in favor of something that better suits Ray Charles' voice. You'll understand the song much better after you read Mr. Asimov's explanation.--Hardly Waite, Gazette Senior Editor.





I have a weakness--I am crazy, absolutely nuts, about our national anthem.

The words are difficult and the tune is almost impossible, but frequently when I'm taking a shower I sing it with as much power and emotion as I can. It shakes me up every time.

I was once asked to speak at a luncheon. Taking my life in my hands, I announced I was going to sing our national anthem--all four stanzas.

This was greeted with loud groans. One man closed the door to the kitchen, where the noise of dishes and cutlery was loud and distracting. "Thanks, Herb," I said.

"That's all right," he said. "It was at the request of the kitchen staff."

I explained the background of the anthem and then sang all four stanzas.

Let me tell you, those people had never heard it before--or had never really listened. I got a standing ovation. But it was not me; it was the anthem.

More recently, while conducting a seminar, I told my students the story of the anthem and sang all four stanzas. Again there was a wild ovation and prolonged applause. And again, it was the anthem and not me.

So now let me tell you how it came to be written.

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain, primarily over freedom of the seas. We were in the right. For two years, we held off the British, even though we were still a rather weak country. Great Britain was in a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United States declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia. If he won, as everyone expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It was no time for her to be involved in an American war.

At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the message "We have met the enemy and they are ours." However, the weight of the British navy beat down our ships eventually. New England, hard-hit by a tightening blockade, threatened secession.

Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to abdicate. Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a three-pronged attack. The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain toward New York and seize parts of New England. The southern prong was to go up the Mississippi, take New Orleans and paralyze the west. The central prong was to head for the mid-Atlantic states and then attack Baltimore, the greatest port south of New York. If Baltimore was taken, the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two. The fate of the United States, then, rested to a large extent on the success or failure of the central prong.

The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took Washington, D. C. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore. On September 12, they arrived and found 1000 men in Fort McHenry, whose guns controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore, they would have to take the fort.

On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William Beanes, who had been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the ship to negotiate his release. The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait. It was now the night of September 13, and the bombardment of Fort McHenry was about to start.

As twilight deepened, Key and Beanes saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry. Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and saw the red glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting and the American flag was still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a dread silence fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag flew above it, or the bombardment had failed and the American flag still flew.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beanes stared out at the fort, tyring to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must have asked each other over and over, "Can you see the flag?"

After it was all finished, Key wrote a four stanza poem telling the events of the night. Called "The Defence of Fort M'Henry," it was published in newspapers and swept the nation. Someone noted that the words fit an old English tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven" --a difficult melody with an uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became known as "The Star Spangled Banner," and in 1931 Congress declared it the official anthem of the United States.

Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old doctor is speaking. This is what he asks Key

Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
W hat so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

"Ramparts," in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort. The first stanza asks a question. The second gives an answer

On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep.
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!



"The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed, and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure.

In the third stanza, I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise.

During World War II, when the British were our staunchest allies, this third stanza was not sung. However, I know it, so here it is

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 footstep's 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.



The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n - rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto--"In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it, the next time you have a chance, with new ears.

And don't let them ever take it away.

--Isaac Asimov, March 1991

[xblackdogx]

English isnt the official language of the US....so why the fuss? 30 million Americans speak Spanish - why pretend that they don't? So what if someone releases a version of the national anthem in spanish? It's not like Congress are passing a law to change it....its just someone making a CD! I could book a studio, record a version of "God save the Queen" in Arabic - and no-one would give a fuck....it certainly wouldnt make national news or motivate people to write long nationalistic rants on message boards....
having a version of the national anthem in spanish available in the shops isnt going to have any effect on society....why would it? Are Hispanic kids gonna buy it and think.."right well, i dont need to learn english anymore - cos i was only learning it to express my patriotism to the country, and i can do that in spanish now...." ?? Utterly ludicrous.....

good point...
as i have said before: hundreds of countries have multiple official languages, especially in Africa where colonization occurred with some countries having up to 20 OFFICIAL languages.

they should not be penalized for not speaking English (though i do believe they should learn it) there is no harm in making documents in Spanish and English if there is a big enough demand (which there is)...

PPL on this board bitch about the stupidest things, which if they knew a little about other countries they would think twice about the arguement.

If hundreds of countries do it, what makes the USA better than others in not providing documents, street signs, w/e in another language?


[ps: bong- still no response about whether your associations with price levels and illegal immigration are accurate?]

[Bong30]

According to U.S. English, the following states have existing official language laws on their books: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming. A small handful date back more than a few decades, such as Louisiana (1811) and Nebraska (1920), but most official language statutes were passed since the 1970's.

[Bong30]

change the anthem just dont make a cartoon..............

Denmark faces international boycott over Muslim cartoons
By Anthony Browne



DENMARK faced the full fury of the Muslim world yesterday as a long-simmering row over newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad finally erupted.

There were street demonstrations and flag-burnings in the Middle East. Libya joined Saudi Arabia in withdrawing its ambassador from Copenhagen. Islamic governments and organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain, issued denunciations and a boycott of Danish goods took hold across the Muslim world.



The Danish Government warned its citizens about travelling to Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and withdrew aid workers from the Gaza Strip.

Last night EU foreign ministers issued a statement in support of Denmark, and the European Commission threatened to report any government backing the boycott to the World Trade Organisation.

The fury echoed the outcry that followed the publication in 1988 of the Salman Rushdie novel The Satanic Verses. The trigger for the latest clash of cultures was the publication by the Danish newspaper Jyllends-Posten on September 30 of 12 cartoons of Muhammad. A biographer of the prophet had complained that no one would dare to illustrate his book, and the newspaper challenged cartoonists to draw pictures of the prophet in a self-declared battle for freedom of speech.

One submission showed Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban; in another he tells dead suicide bombers that he has run out of virgins with which to reward them. Any portrayal of Muhammad is blasphemous in Islam, lest it encourages idolatry.

[andyandy]

not seeing much of a connection between the furoe in the US over the national anthem and the flag burning in the middle east over the danish cartoons....they're over different issues, concerning different parties - maybe connected only insofar as they concern some element of dispute......
or is the spanish national anthem all part of some sinister islamic plot to undermine US nationalism from within....?