My Favorite Rendition of The Star Spangled Banner

I get goosebumps whenever I hear The Star Spangled Banner, but this gentleman, Lewis Shaefer, Marine gives my goosebumps, goosebumps.  I think that especially in the current period of history that we are in, we need to hear ALL four verses of The Star Spangled Banner.




Here are all four verses of The Star Spangled Banner:

The Star-Spangled Banner

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s 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?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists 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 in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

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 wash’d 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.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d 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.

The Star Spangled Banner

 

We mustn't forget that the Star Spangled Banner has more than one verse.

Here is a marine singing the 4th verse.

The Story behind "The Star Spangled Banner"

As Americans, we are in the fight of our lives.  I have wondered in recent years if I would be brave enough to fight for Freedom.  Would I be brave enough to fight for Liberty.  Would I be brave enough to fight for the future of my kids and future grandkids.  It has become abundantly clear in the last couple of weeks, just how fragile our future as a Nation is.  We have a President that defies the Constitution; we have a Supreme Court that places popularity with D.C. insiders above the Constitution.  We have a Congress that defies the American People and the Constitution. 

As we celebrate our nation's Independence, we need to re-evaluate our commitment as a Nation to the foundational principles  Are the words in our Declaration of Independence still true or have they been lost forever?  

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

What sacrifices are you willing to make to secure the Liberty of this nation?