National Anthems: The Star-Spangled Banner, and O Canada

At the Vancouver Canadians game last week, they sang both the American national anthem, better known as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the Canadian national anthem, better known as “O Canada.” For the third time, I was amazed that a foreigner knew the words to the “Star-Spangled Banner” better than most Americans, including myself. I also noticed that no one else in the stadium sang along, and no one cheered. Back home, there is often much mumbling along, with a moments of clear vocal words at the parts we all know and cheering.

In Canada, there is silence during the American anthem, and what I can only describe as solemn singing along with the Canadian anthem. As I listened, for the third time, I was struck by how different the anthems are on all accounts. The tune. The lyrics.

The lyrics.

Here’s the lyrics to “O Canada,” courtesy of Wikipedia:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And here are the lyrics of the “Star-Spangled Banner” we only ever hear, courtesy again of Wikipedia:

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Granted the circumstances under each were written are different, and certainly shape the tune and the lyrics. But hearing them is striking. “O Canada” is a bit more sweeping, general. It is also first person singular, “our” and “we” providing a sense of unity. We have a responsibility to “stand on guard for thee” so we “see thee rise.” Every Canadian has a role to play to achieve a singular goal. The country is the rally point.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” on the other hand is about one event. Here’s the rest of it, that we never hear:

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

We’re a fiercely independent country, as I’ve said before, and we make a point to showcase that every chance we can get. Even in our language, dropping the “o” in words like “colour” and “labour.” A country is not our rally point. A country is what we fled, and then fought to free ourselves.

The flag. The American flag is our rally point. A flag that has gone through changes as the country has changed, from our original 13 colonies to the 50 States it is today. So the “Star-Spangled Banner” is a fitting tribute to the American rally point. Through good and bad, trials and tribulations, war and peace, it remains. Sometimes tattered, faded, but still there.