Oh Say, Can You See

The ability of the American political machine to make up issues, to claim to see an issue where no issue exits, or to focus on the wrong issue, is truly amazing. The politicians in this country are addicted to controversy and a day without one is empty and unfulfilling for these people. Controversy is the pulse that tells them they’re still alive. It also sends the false signal that their opinions matter.

For example, we’re currently a little bogged down in a so-called controversy about immigrants singing the National Anthem in Spanish. That, mi amigos, is not a real issue. At least the issue being discussed is not the real issue.

First, let me say that if I’m singing the National Anthem before the start of a Dodger game, and the guy next to me is standing up beside me with his hat off, and he’s singing the National Anthem in Spanish, I’m going to say “Muy bien, hermano!” I’d say he’s more than meeting the spirit of the occasion. I simply don’t care that he’s more comfortable singing it in Spanish. I’m just glad he’s singing it, unlike the bozo down the row who’s already gnawing into his mustard-slathered Dodger Dog and doesn’t have a hand free to remove his Bud Light hat.

“Nuestro Himno”, the so-called national anthem being sung in Spanish, is not our National Anthem at all. It consists of the following lyrics, which bear very little resemblance to the “Star-Spangled Banner”:

Do you see it arising, by the light of the dawn,
That which we hailed so much when the night fell?
Its stars, its stripes were streaming yesterday
In the fierce combat, as a sign of victory,
The brilliance of battle, in step with freedom,
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?

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?

It’s an okay song; it has a couple of protest elements in it; it has some lines I like; it has some lines I don’t particularly care for. But, without regard to my opinion, it meets the definition of free speech under the First Amendment. And, besides, what difference does it make? If the words aren’t even close to those in the National Anthem, then what’s the issue? Someone has written a song called “Our Anthem”, to be sung in Spanish – okay, so what?

Are people upset because it uses the same music as our anthem? We can’t get too teed off about that. After all, we had no problem with lifting the music from the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” and converting it into “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (aka “America”). Not only is it the national anthem of the UK, it’s the same melody as the national anthem of Liechtenstein and has served as an anthem for Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland! This song, with its purloined music, was our de facto national anthem for most of the 19th century. We still regard it as a highly patriotic song without regard to having pilfered the music from more than a half dozen other countries. So, why can’t someone else borrow our music for a different anthem?

How much room do we have to complain about someone not learning to sing in a second language? America has far fewer multi-lingual citizens than other countries In the industrialized world, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Japan, Korea, India, Israel, South Africa, etc, etc, etc. My first wife’s grandmother, who was born and raised in Switzerland and had the equivalent of an American high school education, spoke three languages fluently, a fourth one conversationally, and dabbled with a fifth one. I knew more bilingual people driving Jeepneys in the Philippines than I know in the good, old U.S. of A. Most of our bilingual citizens are … you guessed it … immigrants!

Someone might counter by saying that we’re talking about people who live and work in America; that they should speak, and sing, in English. Maybe. But, there are many American business people who spend significant time working in Europe and Asia who speak little, if any, of the language of their host country. They pretty much expect everyone to speak English there, too. At least we’re consistent.

It’s probably not terribly significant that the “Star-Spangled Banner” didn’t become the National Anthem until 1931. But, it’s somewhat relevant to remember that it hasn’t been our anthem since the shot heard around the world. Perhaps more relevant is ask how many of the Americans who are protesting the so-called Spanish version of the anthem know all four stanzas in our anthem; how many even know there are four stanzas? Shouldn’t that be a requirement before someone has standing to complain about this issue? I suspect that there are only about 10 Americans who know the words in all four stanzas of our National Anthem.

This gnarly little problem is so widespread that in March 2005 our government launched a program to help our English-speaking population learn the lyrics to just the first stanza of the National Anthem. This program, cleverly called The National Anthem Project (www.nationalanthemproject.org), was created after a Harris Poll showed that two-thirds of the adults in the U.S. don’t know either the lyrics or the history of the "Star-Spangled Banner". In fact, this poll found that many Americans don’t even know which song is our National Anthem! Perhaps we should get our English-speaking house in order with regard to appreciating the National Anthem and then we can help our Spanish-speaking compatriots.

Remember the old joke about the Mexican immigrant who attended a baseball game and was overwhelmed by the gracious welcome he got from the other fans, when they all stood up and sang, “Jose, can you see?” Maybe it’s time for a little more graciousness. Maybe it’s time for all of us fans of the National Anthem to stand up and say, “Jose, you can sing with us any way you choose.” After all, this is America – where the freedom of choice and the freedom of speech are as big as a mustard-slathered Dodger Dog.

And, if Jose does learn English, then he can teach the rest of us the words to the anthem we love so dearly.