the star spangled banner song written by

Key was moved to write a poem, which he titled 'Defence of Fort M'Henry.' (Lyrics are at the bottom of the page.) One source says that Key wrote the poem on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. This was a particularly key development since just 10 days earlier, British troops had burned Washington, D.C. The British had failed to capture Fort McHenry. Key pinned his hopes for knowing whether the fort had been saved on whether the larger flag would be flying in the morning.Īt dawn, on September 14, Key saw the normal flag in place. It was a rainy night, and so the fort was flying its 'storm flag,' a smaller version of the normal 15-star-15-stripe flag. Key was a temporary prisoner of war during the attack, his mission to secure an exchange of prisoners suspended while British ships poured round after round into the fort's defenses, on September 13, 1814. Poet Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics in 1814, after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Marie's substitution set off a firestorm of controversy the governor of Colorado called it 'disrespectful.' Marie, who grew up in a segregated town, says that the arrangement is part of a larger suite incorporating various patriotic songs - all meant as her expression of love and hope for the country.'The Star-Spangled Banner' is America's national anthem, so designated by Congress in 1931. It was adopted by the NAACP in 1919 and eventually became widely popular during the American civil-rights movement. 'Lift Every Voice,' also known as 'The Negro National Anthem,' was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson and then set to music by his brother, John Rosamond, in the early 1900s. Marie did indeed sing the melody we all recognize, but she inserted the words to 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' into it.

Last year, jazz vocalist Rene Marie was invited to perform 'The Star-Spangled Banner' before the city of Denver's State of the City mayoral address.

from Rene Marie at Denver's State of the City mayoral address 2008.

The star spangled banner song written by