General Question

SergeantQueen's avatar

Why do we not sing the 3rd and 4th verses of the Star Spangled Banner?

Asked by SergeantQueen (12968points) September 22nd, 2017

Is it because hardly anyone (supposedly) even knows there is a 3rd and 4th verse? I watched a video of a guy singing it and it was 6 minutes for all four verses. So is it possible that it is just too long? I bet if someone like Christina Aguilera was singing it’d be around 8–9 minutes.
Here is a website that has all four verses on it.

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7 Answers

zenvelo's avatar

We don’t even sing the second verse. And, at the request of US Television, they don’t play the whole tune of the first verse at the Olympics; they play a shortened version.

SergeantQueen's avatar

Yeah, soon after I posted this I was like, “What about the second verse?” Why do we only sing the first verse, or shortened versions of it?

zenvelo's avatar

Each verse is long. And there’s no way to top “land of the free, home of the brave”.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Yellowdog's avatar

Another example would be the additional verses of Auld Lang Syne.

Lots of songs have an awe-inspiring first verse and rather un-inspiring, ridiculously languid additional verses. Makes you wonder why anyone even bothered setting them to music or writing them down.

Response moderated (Spam)
rojo's avatar

Mainly because no one know WTF they are.

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