America the Beautiful

As we near our Independence Day celebration I have a confession to make. I have never much cared for our national anthem. In fact, I dislike it intensely. The Star Spangled Banner is musically difficult to sing. It references a single battle in a single war. It's set to an English tune. At the risk of being called unpatriotic and setting off a storm in my comment section, I will even say I dislike how its use of the flag as a symbol has permeated the national psyche to the point at which the symbol has nearly become more important that what it represents. That said, I still stand when it is played or sung and sing along. I make sure my kids do the same respectfully and I become annoyed with people who jabber through it or men who fail to remove their caps. I observe Memorial Day and Veteran's Day and make sure to thank the men and women in uniform. I also think whether I agree with the war in Iraq or not I should be supportive of the troops who are serving there. I believe if I fail to vote in an election I also forfeit my right to complain about whoever winds up in office (yes, I am ever the cynic). So don't get your shorts in a wad over my dislike of the national anthem. It doesn't mean I hate my country.

You may ask what I propose instead of the Star Spangled Banner. I'm glad you did. For nearly all of my adulthood I have thought America the Beautiful would be a more fitting national anthem. It is set to a simpler melody. It speaks of the beauty of our nation's natural wonders. It recalls our history in a broader sense and lauds the character qualities exhibited by our people in both building and protecting our nation. It exhorts us to a sense of unity. There are those who would take issue with the mention of God in the chorus and I suppose there is some merit to that argument in that it is not altogether inclusive of those who may reject faith of any sort. So perhaps my suggestion has its own shortcomings. Nonetheless, I think it's a more fitting example of what we should value in our history and what we should aspire to in our present and future (not to mention easier to sing, always a plus). And nobody sang it quite like Ray Charles.

(lyrics by Katherine Lee Bates;
music composed by Samuel A. Ward)


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 prov'd
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.