Star Spangled Banner As You've Never Heard It

[Music] [Music] there was a lawyer once his name was Francis Scott Key he penned a song that I'm sure you're aware of you've seen it it's in most hymnals throughout our churches it's called the national anthem it is our song as an American we go however to a ballgame we stand on our church services and we sing the words of that song and they float over our minds in our lips and we don't even realize what we're singing most of us have memorized it as a child but we've never really thought about what it means let me tell you a story Francis Scott Key was a lawyer in Baltimore the colonies were engaged in vicious conflict with the mother country Britain because of this conflict in the protracted nosov it they had accumulated prisoners on both sides the American colonies had prisoners and the British had prisoners and the American government initiated a move they went to the British and they said let us negotiate for the release of these prisoners [Music] they said we want to send a man out to discuss this with you they were holding the American prisoners in boats about a thousand yards offshore and they said we want to send a man by the name of Francis Scott Key he will come out and negotiate to see if we can make a mutual exchange on the appointed day in a rowboat he went out to this vote and he negotiated with the British officials and they reached a conclusion that men could be exchanged on a one-for-one basis Francis Scott Key jubilant with the fact that he'd been successful went down below in the boats and what he found was a cargo boat full of humanity men and he said men I've got news for you tonight you're free he said tonight I have negotiated successfully or returned to the colonies he said you'll be taken out of this vote out of this filth out of your chains as he went back up on board to arrange for their passage to the shore the Admiral came and he said we have a slight problem he said we will still honor our commitment to release these men but it'll be merely academic after tonight it won't matter if Francis Scott Key said what do you mean he said well mr. key he said tonight we have laid an ultimatum upon the colonies your people will either capitulate and lay down the colours of that flag that you think so much of or you see that fort right over there fort Henry he said we're gonna remove it from the face of the earth he said how are you gonna do that he said if you will scan the horizon of the sea and as he looked he could see hundreds of little dots and he said that's the entire British war fleet he said all of the gun power all of the armament is being called upon to demolish that fort it will be here within striking distance in a matter of about two and a half hours he said the war is over these men would be free anyway he said you can't shell that for it he said that's that's a large 40s that it's full of women and children he says it's predominantly not a military fort he said don't worry about it they said we've left them away out and he said what's that he said do you see that flag way up on the rampart he said we have told them that if they will lower that flag the shelling will stop immediately and we'll know that they've surrendered and you'll now be under British rule Francis Scott Key went down below and told the men what was about to happen and he said how many ships he said on hundreds the ships got closer Francis Scott Key went back up on top and he said men I'll shout down to you what's going on as we watch as twilight began to fall and as the haze hung over the ocean as it does at sunset suddenly the British war fleet unleashed he says the sound was deafening there were so many guns that there were no reliefs he said it was absolutely impossible to talker here he said suddenly the sky although dark was suddenly lit paces from down below all he could hear the men the prisoners saying was what have we done with the flag is the flag still flying over the rampart tell us one hour two hours three hours into the shelling every time the bomb would explode and it would be close to the flag they could see the flag in the illuminated red glare of that bomb and Francis Scott Key would report down to the men below it's still up it's not down the Admiral came and he said your people are insane he said what's the matter with them he said don't they understand this is an impossible situation Francis Scott Key said he remembered what George Washington have said he said the thing that sets the American Christian apart from all other people in the world is he will die on his feet before he'll live on his knees the Admiral said we have now instructed all of the guns to focus on the rampart to take that flag down he said we don't understand something our reconnaissance tells us that that flag has been hit directly again and again and again and yet it's still flying we don't understand that but he said now we're about to bring every gun for the next three hours to bear on that point Francis Scott he said the barrage was unmerciful all that he could hear was the men down below praying the prayer God keep that flag flying where we last saw it [Music] sunrise came he said there was a heavy mist hanging over the land of the rampart was tall enough there stood the flag completely nondescript in shreds the flagpole itself was in a crazy angle but the flag was still at the top Francis Scott Key went aboard and immediately wanted a Fort Henry to see what had happened and what he found it happened was that that flag holding that flag has suffered repetitious direct hits and when hit had fallen [Music] but men fathers who knew would it meant for that flag to be on the ground although knowing that all of the British guns were trained on and walked over and held it up humanely until they died [Music] their bodies were removed and others took their place Francis Scott Key said what held that flagpole in place at that unusual angle were Patriots bodies he penned the song oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming or the Rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that the flag was still there oh say does that star-spangled banner yet fly or the land of the free and the home of the brave [Music] the debt was demanded the price it was paid [Music] laughing what's so proud we that right there screaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the bed fame or the red parts we were so good the screaming gets free the moms were stinging yeah there was do there [Applause] hüseyin does that star spangled way [Music] or the lane [Music] and the pole mom [Music] hüseyin let's go Spang where [Music] or the name Oh [Music] you

Channel: mona rose

Views: 16,854,833

Rating: 4.7648373 out of 5

Keywords: The Star-Spangled Banner (Composition), National, Anthem, USA, United States Of America (Country), Francis Scott Key, National Anthem, Flag, Red White and Blue, America, Americans, The Star Spangled Banner As You've Never Heard IT

Id: YaxGNQE5ZLA

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 06 2013