A New National Anthem

I went to a baseball game last night. OK, it was a minor league game, but we all had the opportunity to sing the national anthem. I don't think any one of us did. Here's why:

1. The lady singing the anthem chose to sing at the highest glass-shatteringest octave she could muster. I heard dogs barking behind the stadium.

2. No one really knows the words. What's a rampart? What comes first, "rockets red glare, or bombs bursting in air"?

3. Our national anthem...brace yourselves...stinks.

It sounds harsh, but you all know its true. The arrangement is all over the place. Highs and lows are living together right next to each other. Its crazy. The tune may have worked 200 years ago, but it doesn't now. Do you find yourself humming the tune during the day? I didn't think so.

But I do find myself humming "O, Canada". I'm not even Candadian, but the tune rocks. I caught Alanis Morrisette singing both anthems on TV the other night during the Stanley Cup finals in Ottawa (if you want to watch it, click on the title of this article). Of course no one sang along for our anthem. But when she started "O, Canada" everyone (and I mean everyone) sang along. It also helped that it was acapella. Just her and 20,000 Canadians. At one point she even stopped singing and pointed her mic at the crowd and they carried the tune. I got chills. And I'm not Canadian. The tune works, the lyrics are timeless (sort of) and everyone gets into it. Our anthem was penned in a prison during a battle. It sounds like theirs was conceived in a bar with a bunch of drunk people. It's awesome.

I know they have toyed with the idea of changing ours to "America the Beautiful" or "Enter Sandman", but after this week, I am pushing for a new anthem. What are your thoughts? Do we need to change it, and if so, to what?