America the Beautiful could be a better national anthem choice for the United States

r/

The Star Spangled Banner commemorates a battle. The country’s name is not mentioned even in additional verses.

America the Beautiful, on the other hand, mentions the name of the country, multiple times, and talks about it.

Comments

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  2. Shcmoneydance17 Avatar

    both songs are cringe af. i recommend, jump around by house of pain

  3. mjc500 Avatar

    I mean I understand your point but I think the “Star Spangled Banner” is a better piece of musical composition. There have been some great renditions over the years and the musical potential to knock it out of the park is symbolically representative of the historical trajectory of the USA. I think it’s overall the better pick and would not want it changed to “America the Beautiful”

  4. Frost-Folk Avatar

    I do love America the Beautiful.

    But the real solution is Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land.

  5. UrbanWalker1 Avatar

    Don’t get why people hate on our anthem. It’s awesome. About winning a battle against those trying to control us.

  6. rlb408 Avatar

    Not unpopular at all. In the late 90s Ted Turner tried to make it happen and more recently there was a change.org petition about it. The militaristic aspect of the SSB and a reference to slavery in the third verse are the major arguments in favor of a change. Though I recall that the slavery reference refers to the British, but nonetheless….

    I think it’ll happen eventually. Not in the political mindset of the current administration but eventually. Of course, there will be diehards who won’t let go for a couple of centuries.

    The SSB’s 100 year anniversary of being the National anthem is approaching. Maybe that’ll be a good time.

  7. Ike7200 Avatar

    Nah. Battle Hymn of the Republic

  8. jp112078 Avatar

    Not unpopular. It’s been discussed for decades. But never going to happen. I’m ambivalent

  9. WhyteBoiLean Avatar

    I can’t stand the way people sing the national anthem at sporting events, makes me wish the confederates won so we could hear Dixie or something

  10. Mokaleek Avatar

    I’m more of a ‘God Bless America’ fan myself

  11. StevenSaguaro Avatar

    It’s not the easiest song to sing. Occasionally you’ll see someone crash and burn, which is highly entertaining. For that reason I say keep it.

  12. VinegarMyBeloved Avatar

    You know, I used to think this too, then I heard the Japanese national anthem for the first time. It did not make me feel happy to be Japanese. The words are barely comprehensible to a modern person and the melody is gloomy. Compared to that, I think America is doing pretty well

  13. No_Sir_6649 Avatar

    Also kinda commemorates that stolan land…

  14. alllmossttherrre Avatar

    It’s really not an unpopular opinion. Many have suggested it.

    From a practical point of view, The Star-Spangled Banner is kind of a bad choice for a song that needs to be sung by a lot of different people, because it spans such a long range across octaves that many singers struggle with it. It’s half the reason there are so many bad renditions. It goes from very low to very high.

    America the Beautiful is generally easier to sing.

    But there is a mythos in America about being one of the countries that won its revolution through guns and blood instead of with the stroke of a pen, and those who pin their identities to that mythos would fight to keep an anthem that maintains that violent mythos.

  15. Acrobatic-Skill6350 Avatar

    Why would you guys change the star spangled banner? Its a decent anthem and one of a few national anthems known around the world