(HOST) Writer, storyteller, and commentator Willem Lange has a few thoughts on Independence Day.
(LANGE) The United States and Canada celebrate their birthdays only three days apart, but what a difference! That difference pretty much expresses the two paths by which the two nations became independent of Great Britain. Canada was a province of the Empire until 1867, when it merged with the British colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and became technically a kingdom, but one still partly under the control of the British Parliament. The thirteen American colonies, caught up in a fervor fueled by hawkish tax protesters, declared their independence unilaterally and went to war to secure it. Both achieved the same result in the end, which sometimes makes me wonder…
"The Star-Spangled Banner," our national anthem, was composed by Francis Scott Key, an attorney, during his return to Baltimore from watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Set to the music of a British drinking song, it’s a product of its time – which may explain why so many Americans have only a dim grasp of its lyrics. If you Google "National Anthem Screwups," you’ll be able to watch quite a few, including Roseanne Barr’s infamous performance in San Diego in 1990.
"O Canada" was commissioned in 1880 by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec for the celebration of St. Jean Baptiste Day. It was originally in French; an English version appeared in 1906. The two versions don’t match, but where the United States anthem celebrates victory in battle, the Canadian celebrates a love of the land: "The True North strong and free…O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."
After the first verses of each anthem, the rest go downhill fast. The second and third verses of the "Star-Spangled Banner" are, to be charitable, execrable – though the fourth rallies a bit.
Years ago, on a July canoe trip in northern Canada, we met some Canadian canoeists. "Hey," they said "this is your Independence Day. You gonna sing the national anthem?"
"Yes," I said, "we might."
"Well, I hope you know ‘er better’n Roseanne Barr,."
Now, they had no way of knowing that I had only a few months before learned all four verses of our national anthem. Holding my hand on my heart and starting low enough so I’d make that awful high note at the end, I launched into the full version. Halfway through the third verse – "And where is that band who so vauntingly swore….Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution" – they started waving their hands. "Okay, okay, that’ll do then, eh?"
I’ve had no requests for repeat performances, which suits me fine. Still, I must admit to a lump in the throat when Old Glory flutters briskly up the flagpole during the playing of the anthem. And when we sing the phrase, "…the land of the free," I pray we’ll never become casual about our inheritance. In the closing words of the fourth stanza, "And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
This is Willem Lange in East Montpelier, wishing you all a wonderful Independence Day.