Star Spangled Banner Lyrics Jimi Hendrix Who wrote the national Anthem?
Star Spangled Banner Lyrics (words) Who Wrote the Star Spangled Banner Star Spangled Banner MP3, MIDI, WAV Star Spangled Banner Sheet Music The Star Spangled Banner story Jimi Hendrix Star Spangled Banner National Anthem Sung By U.S. Presidents Whitney Houston's video Played on the Violin
LINK TO US



PLAY IT AGAIN, UNCLE SAM

Francis Scott Key
CLICK TO LEARN ABOUT THE AUTHOR







Star Spangled Banner lyrics and more!

Musical Resources

Gathered here for you are many useful resources for the Star Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America. From lyrics and a history you can copy, to audio files like mp3's you can download, to sheet music of every kind for sale. This is the place for Star Spangled Banner lyrics.

If you need a copy of the Star Spangled Banner Lyrics (words), they are here - including the second through fourth verses that many people have never even heard.

Need to know "Who Wrote the Star Spangled Banner?" for a report? - it's here.



If you need some MP3 or Real Player files to spice up your own patriotic website, or, maybe you're a singer or other musician and need sheet music.

On the other hand, maybe you're a 60's nostalgic! You're looking for Jimi Hendrix's version of the national athem, which he played so enthusiastically on his electric guitar at the Woodstock festival so many years ago.

As far as we understand, none of the items on this site are restricted by copyright law. In which case, you are welcome to use any of them. If you happen to have any resources you'd like to share with others, feel free to .

A Bit of History

In 1814, about a week after the city of Washington had been badly burned, British troops moved up to the primary port at Baltimore Harbor in Maryland.

Frances Scott Key visited the British fleet in the Harbor on September 13th to secure the release of Dr. William Beanes who had been captured during the Washington raid. The two were detained on the ship so as not to warn the Americans while the Royal Navy attempted to bombard Fort McHenry. At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write a poem entitled Defense of Fort McHenry; later the poem was set to music that had been previously composed by a Mr. Smith.

The song was immediately noted as an inspiring song that should be the national anthem of the United States of America. It was accepted as such by public demand for the next century or so, but became even more accepted as the national anthem during the World Series of Baseball in 1917 when it was sung in honor of the brave armed forces fighting in the Great War. The World Series performance moved everyone in attendance, and after that it was repeated for every game.

Finally, on March 3, 1931, the American Congress proclaimed it as the national anthem, 116 years after it was first written.