this anthem thing...

[nolly]

OK, I see two basic sets of reactions from people.
I see people reacting to Bush's "keep it in English" statement, which was documentably inane -- not only is there a long history of translation, including ones promoted by the gov't, Bush was singing the anthem in Spanish on the campaign trail.

I see people reacting to the song itself, and this is what I don't understand. Can someone explain what, if anything, is problematic about it?

Comments

Anthem links?

[snippy]

I haven't seen anyone (online or off) reacting badly to the national anthem--got links?

Re: Anthem links?

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Not the anthem itself, but the new Spanish rendition, which is, depending on who's talking, a new translation, a bastardization, or something inspired by/based on the Star Spangled Banner. The translation, from what I've seen is not entirely faithful, but not all that bad, either; i've not had a chance to listen to it, but I'm told the music is also changed somewhat.

Re: Anthem links?

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Well, it is translated poetry, and a "singing translation." Any anime fan that hears will probably end up going "Oh. Right. Nevermind."

Re: Anthem links?

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Even given that, I have to grant the point about the original not calling the flag "sacred". The semantic changes after the first verse do seem significant -- but my read is "OK, it's a different song" not "They broke my anthem!"

Re: Anthem links?

[nolly.livejournal.com]

News stories here (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=bush+anthem+english); I'd rather not link to entries from my flist at this point, but if people reading this want to link to their own posts on the topic, that's fine.

[duckflambe.livejournal.com]

Does anybody know where I can find footage of Bush-II singing the anthem in Spanish? I'd love to send a link to some people. :)

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

Mee too, please.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Watch boingboing; last update I saw, they had news article references, but no video yet.

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

He's on record as speaking spanish during the Republican National Convention (http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=14112)

[necturus.livejournal.com]

I understand Ted Kennedy has joined Bush in objecting to the Spanish-language anthem.

I'm disappointed in my senior Senator, and if there weren't so many things more deserving of attention than a silly song about a piece of cloth, I might take him to task for it.

[kishiriadgr.livejournal.com]

I haven't looked for them, but apparently the State Department has no less than four different version of the NA *in Spanish* on its web site.

My feeling: permite lo a se descansar, damas y caballeros. (Give it a rest, ladies and gentlemen.)

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Indeed, which is part of what makes Bush's statement inane.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

I just got DDR last week, so all of my spare enthusiasm is going into that.

But. I happened across an English translation of the lyrics in the paper a few days ago, and it struck me that the second verse was a bit more rabble-rousing than flag-embracing:

Its stars, its stripes, liberty, we are equal.
We are brothers, it is our anthem.
In the fierce combat, as a sign of victory,
The brilliance of battle... (My people, keep fighting!)
...in step with freedom, (Now is the time to break the chains!)
Throughout the night they said: "It will be defended!"
Oh say you! Does it still wave, its starred beauty,
Over the land of the free, the sacred flag?

I appreciate that it is difficult to line up the lyrics properly in another language, but this isn't even a shoddy attempt to capture Key's spirit. So I suppose that I oppose the second verse with the same spirit that I oppose people using patriotic music (or Santa Claus or the Hallelujah Chorus) to sell dish soap or cola.

I have an even greater will to endorse the first verse, though, which brings us together as a nation in an appreciation of the bombing of Fort McHenry and the resolve it instilled in us to protect the values of our nation no matter how hard a beating we must endure. And, speaking of the bombing of Fort McHenry, I find it particularly challenging that a Briton is spearheading this effort to change the meaning of an anthem that was brought about by the ferocity of his forefathers.

Okay, back to DDR now.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

So given significant lyrical changes and also musical changes, what makes it the same song?

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

Having just listened to the song, it is really unmistakably recognizable as the tune of the national anthem of the United States after the first twenty-three seconds. One may argue (as some have elsejournal) that it was an old drinking song before it was the tune of the national anthem of the United States, but it seems somewhat flimsy to suggest that very many people alive today would recognize the tune as "To Anacreon in Heaven" rather than "The Star-Spangled Banner". It is the same song because it was designed and marketed specifically to burrow into our cultural subconscious and force us to react to it in reference to TSSB.

Of course, it breaks all of our irony meters when President Bush tells someone else "How dare you wrap yourself in the flag to promote your personal agenda!" and I trust that his cheerleaders in talk radio are similarly shocked (shocked!) that people would use a politically sacred song to advocate resistance against society's oppression. Still, their point is not completely without merit.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I finally had a chance to listen as well; my impression is that the melody is reminiscent of, but not identical to the SSB. The range seems to be compressed -- highs are less high, and other changes I don't have sufficient musical vocabulary to describe accurately.

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

Absolutely nothing.

Yet it claims to be the same song.

Or else, it's claiming that the US National Anthem is not "good enough" for Spanish speaking Americans, and so they need their own, entirely different, "National Anthem".

If that doesn't raise hackles, it should.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Does it make either claim? Where? (This is not a rhetorical question. I citation where someone from the company producing it or the singer or, really, anyone authoritative makes that claim is one thing I was hoping for when poting this.)

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

Well, who started calling it the Spanish language US National Anthem?

More importantly, they're using a tune that most people recognize a the US National Anthem. If that's not deliberate, they're some of the dumbest people alive. No?

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Started? That's what I'd like to know. Spread it? Journalists.

Using a similar tune could mean any number of things, and without a statement from the creators -- which may exist, but which I have not seen -- I'm not going to leap to conclusions.

[madarab.livejournal.com]

Because Fracis Scott Key is their Lord and Savior and His Holy words must be perfectly preserved just as they were written. If God had wanted our National Anthem to be sung in Spanish, he would have inspired some guy named Jesus to write it. :P

[allaboutm-e.livejournal.com]

Are there existing countries with their national anthem in more than one language?
wondering...

[ashi.livejournal.com]

I got this link from the Wikipedia entry: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/audio/national/himno.mp3

It really does sound a lot different.