First published under the title “Defense of Fort M'Henry,” the poem soon attained wide popularity as sung to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The origin of this tune is obscure, but it may have been written by John Stafford Smith, a British composer born in 1750. In the morning, he was so delighted to see the American flag still flying over the fort that he began a poem to commemorate the occasion. The release was secured, but Key was detained on ship overnight during the shelling of Fort McHenry, one of the forts defending Baltimore. William Beanes, who had been captured after the burning of Washington, DC. 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key visited the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay to secure the release of Dr. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,Īnd this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation! O thus be it ever when free-men shall standīetween their lov'd home and the war's desolation īlest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
#Facts about the star spangled banner song free#
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. No refuge could save the hireling and slaveįrom the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:Īnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution. That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,Ī home and a country should leave us no more? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!Īnd where is that band who so vauntingly swore Key first wrote his iconic poem after the battle at Fort. 'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave On March 3, 1931, Francis Scott Keys poem 'The Star-Spangled Banner' was officially recognized as the United States national anthem.
#Facts about the star spangled banner song full#
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream: Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,Īs it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep, While it's the song that is recited before major political and sporting events, 'The Star Spangled Banner' didn't become the country's national anthem until 1931. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there. O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?Īnd the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming? O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,