Why did the US choose such a war-oriented song to be their national anthem?

Question

Why not a song about baseball, rock and roll, and hollywood movies? Why the focus on "the bombs bursting in air" and all that crap??

Answer 1

Because ,I think ,that the U.S.A. was born of war and is still bombs bursting in the air! I personally love ; America the beautifull!

Answer 2

The War for 1812 was not actually about Independence, it was waged over the British impressment of our troops and our ships. Of Course had the conservative members of congress waited another month they would have received word about the recent british law making impressment illegal.. The tune is to that of "The Anacreon of Heaven" A popular British drinking song. The other choice for National anthem is "America the Beautiful" but an overwhelming amount of people do not wish to have that song as the tune for it is the British anthem "God save our King." I hope this helps in some small way.

P.S The song did not become our anthem until Herbert Hoover signed it into law on March 3, 1931

Answer 3

I hope you are kidding...because baseball, rock and roll, and hollywood movies were not around when the national anthem was chosen. Also, the country was founded on a war (you know that whole independence thing called the Revolutionary War). It is a symbol of how the US stood up to the great power of England and survived (the whole part where it says, "our flag was still there"). It is about the freedom which was won by a war.

Answer 4

The Star-Spangled Banner has been around since the bombing of Baltimore during the War of 1812, after Washington D.C. was burned down by the British. When it was created, rock and roll and hollywood movies were nowhere near existence. Our country fought the Revolutionary War to obtain freedom, and expanded to what we are today through wars such as the Mexican War acquiring most of our western lands. Without succeeding in wars, the U.S. wouldn't even exist today.

Answer 5

The song was written by Francis Scott Key who was being held captive by the British during the War of 1812. He was writing about the British Seige on Ft. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor and wrote it as a poem. The music came from "God Save the Queen" and I don't mean the Sex Pistols song. It has been used since to inspire Americans since.

A modern anthem should be that song about letting the bodies hit the floor.

Answer 6

Because at the time the nation was fighting for its freedom and baseball, rock and roll, and hollywood did not exist. The national anthem expressed perfectly the young nation at the time it was written.

Answer 7

Try listening to the words of the song, study the real history of our country (not the PC crap taught in our public schools) and it may start making a little bit of sense to you.

On second thought, probably not. If someone thinks our national anthem should be about baseball, there is no hope.

Answer 8

Maybe because it was written during the revolutionary war. Maybe the guy that wrote it was just writin a song about what was going on and it gained rightful popularity. What do they teach kids?

Answer 9

Because Francis Scott Key was a British prisoner on a British warship, a fleet and army that had just burned Washington DC. He was inspired by the sight of the flag after an all night bombardment. I find his words the same. It is not war it respects and loves. It is our country.

Answer 10

1. Get a physics degree

2. Build a time machine

3. Set dial to 1800's

4. Upon arrival, find the people who originally chose the National Anthem

5. Ask them

Good luck on your search, o seeker of knowledge