What would it take to change the national anthem to something more singable?

Write a new one that catches on enough that the nation adopts it.

It’d be easier to take singing lessons. Or just change the key you sing it in.

I don’t have a problem with it personally; I just sing alto if it’s too high. However, hearing groups sing it, badly, it seems sad it can’t be something easier to sing.

Yes it can be challenging. It’s a gullet song. Can’t do that one with just the throat.

All you have to do (easy for me to say!) is to petition your Congressman and your Senators. If you can get them to introduce a bill to change it, and it gets passed and signed by the President, the national Anthem gets changed.

You can start an online petition to see if there is support. You can hold a “sing-in” at the local Federal Building or the City Hall or at the State Capital and get the local TV stations to cover it.

I like that it’s a difficult song to sing. It requires several octaves, and it allows for only precious few to pull it off. The national anthem doesn’t have to be sung perfectly by everyman; not every song has to be sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle little star – certainly not the anthem.

The song shouldn’t be easy. The singers should work for every note. After all, in this country, you gotta work your way up the ladder. You gotta earn every penny. And one day, maybe, just maybe, you can really, truly make something of yourself. Or end up completely humiliated and shunned by everyone and their dog because you flattened that last note like an empty beer can.

Changing America’s national anthem, changing any country’s national anthem, pretty damn difficult I think. I don’t think it could be done, but good luck. Personally, I would prefer it if something like America The Beautiful were our national anthem, even with all the god stuff I would rather have that, because it celebrates the beauty of the landscape of our country and expresses both pride and humility. I’d rather have that than all the marshall, bombs bursting in air, flag fetishism of the The Star Spangled Banner, but that’s just me and it’s not going to happen.

Interesting! It never occurred to me that anyone would think it should be difficult. I think it should be a spirited rallying all-of-us-together kind of song, but I like to and do sing a lot. Maybe others think it should only be sung by experts? Wow. Well, I got to sing it with my chorus at the opening of the Olympics in 1980 (date?) I have to admit it was a thrill.

@Sunny2 Then you are a celebrity of sorts.

@zen Oh, right. I was one of over 80 voices. The biggest thrill was the Olympic music the band or orchestra played. Our anthem was hard to hear because of all the feedback.

I sang it at the opening of a Redskins game, in ASL, but still fun!
I don’t think people will change easily, even though many might agree that America the Beautiful might be more appropriate. I think there’s a high level of respect for Star Spangled Banner and it would feel sacrilegious to just ditch it.
Maybe the less ritual-oriented next generation (notice that? the next generation has much less respect for rituals than our elders- they don’t even cover their hearts anymore) will change it.

There are a lot of die-hards who would sooner see you shipped book-rate to South Africa. Much easier, if you ask me, to set the same words to a different tune. It was a poem when Key wrote it, and it got set to a then-popular tune that was also making the rounds of both hymnals and bar scenes.

A drunk sing it in their language, a deaf person sign it in their language, children sing it high pitch, and old age sing it with the lowest death voice. We all sing it, difficult yes, but we should be proud of our song and that people of all age and ethic in locations in the country carry the voice to be able to sing our Nation Athem

@Nullo That’s a good idea.

@Nullo It wasn’t too popular when Jose Feliciano sang it to a different tune .

Nationalism is dangerous.

Apart from the tune, how appropriate are the words? It talks about how the flag remained intact during a battle in the War of 1812. Can’t we find something better to sing about?

@Ladymia69 Fanatical nationalism, perhaps. But there’s nothing wrong with liking your home.

@LostInParadise Ah, but it’s symbolic. Historically, flags represent the country; as a symbol, it’s saying that the United States is awesome and can weather anything.

@LostInParadise I’m voting for America, the Beautiful. Nice mental images, lovely uplifting music, easy to sing. I don’t particularly care for the of poetry of war, but it certainly has been a continuing theme of our nation since its inception. That’s the reality. Whether to celebrate it is another issue.

Ultra-Nationalism/Hyper-Nationalism is dangerous. Regular nationalism is a wonderful thing.