Oh, say, can you sing it?

As you probably well know, a great many folks can't sing it. The national anthem, I mean.

Campaign to reteach national anthem kicks off today

Wanna know what I think? Of course you do... otherwise, why would you be here?

I think that it's a stupid national anthem. It says little to nothing about our country. It's about a FLAG. Now don't get me wrong, I like the flag just fine. Obviously I must, since it's the subject of today's watercolor painting auction! But I don't think a song about our flag is the best choice for a national anthem.

I think that "America the Beautiful" is a MUCH better choice. "My Country, 'tis of Thee" is nice but it's the same tune as the UK's national anthem and our innate sense of independence should prevent us from choosing that one.

"America the Beautiful" is also much easier to sing. It has enough of a range to be interesting, but it's not the ridiculously unreasonable range of "The Star-Spangled Banner." I hate listening to people sing the national anthem because so few people do it well. My blogmommy SarahK is one of the very few who can pull it off well. Most people either totally botch it or, if they're pretty talented and full of themselves, they add so much vocalese that it's unrecognizable. Most people don't know the words, or forget them halfway. It ridiculous.

Change it.

Yeah, I know, the chances are nil. But it's what I think, nonetheless.