I grew up singing songs. I was always encouraged to sing out, sing loud, sing proud … and thankfully there was no category to ‘carry a tune’ thank goodness.
Top Patriotic Songs of my youth:
- God Bless America
- This Land is Your Land
- America The Beautiful
- Over There
- You’re a Grand Old Flag
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
Do these songs resonate with you? Did you have any favorites?
The one song I never remember singing was the national anthem — there was no connection to me, my world and those words.
The other songs … they painted pictures of scenes I could relate to .. but not the Star Spangled Banner.
“Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming…
Those are words and ideas and phrases that have no emotional meaning to me as a child nor as an adult. Sorry.
Perhaps it’s time to pick a new anthem? Something that we can embrace, understand and sing at the top of our lungs!
Happily ... after retirement 
Not being American [as you well know], still… I know the words to both Star Spangeled Banner and God Bless America…
Your national anthem is very difficult to sing … you’ve got to have an extremely powerful voice …
LikeLike
This Land is Your Land …. resonates.
and so does God Bless America.
I guess it’s because both speak to this land..
Thank you again for a timely thoughtful post.
LikeLike
You are so right about the national anthem! The song has high notes, difficult words and obscure phrases. Many people do not know the words and if they do, many do not understand the context of the words in our history!
LikeLike
I love both of those songs as well as America the Beautiful! I love the images they paint in my head almost like I can reach out and touch the land, the amber waves of grain and the purple mountain majesty!
LikeLike