Like the flag, may the Star Spangled Banner always fly.

This is an honest question, based in ignorance.

Is the national anthem of any other country a story of suspense?  of danger leading to hope?

People call for an easier song to sing.

"America the Beautiful", for instance.  Bucolic, satisfying, happy and tuneful. It is all of that.

Or, maybe, even write another song.  Phhhyyt;

My older son commented earlier that the fireworks of the Fourth of July commemorate the celebration of the battles our country fought to become this country.
So does the Star-Spangled Banner.

A lot of emotion went into that tune.  It was about a suspenseful time in history, when after all we had struggled to achieve might go to ruin.

"Does the flag still fly?"

"Can we prevail?"

"Do we have the grit, the determination, the unsurmountable intent to build the country we lived in and make it all ours, warts and all?"

Can we survive?

And every time we sing that anthem, we affirm "through the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, our flag was still there."

Still is.

So set off the fireworks, a happy facsimile of that night.

The flag is still there.

And for about 200 years now, so has the "Star Spangled Banner."

May it always stand as a vital part of the history of our country and who we are.