\"The Star Spangled Banner\" (The National Anthem)Words by Francis Scott KeyMusic by John Stafford Smith\"The Star Spangled Banner\" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics are from a poem entitled, \"Defense of Fort McHenry\", written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, after he witnessed the September 13th attack by the British Royal Navy on Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. This War of 1812 bombardment is now known as the Battle of Baltimore (September 12-14, 1814). \nThroughout the night of the 13th, the bombing was heavy. At dawn on September 14th, Francis Scott Key saw that the huge American flag, which is now called \"The Star Spangled Banner\", was still waving at thefort. It inspired him to write the now famous poem. \nThe flag currently hangs at the Smithsonian\'s National Museum of American History.\nOn March 3rd, 1931, by congressional resolution, The \"Star Spangled Banner\" became the national anthem of the USA.\n\n\"The Star Spangled Banner\" lyrics:\nOh, say can you see by the dawn\'s early light\nWhat so proudly we hailed at the twilight\'s last gleaming?\nWhose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,\nO\'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?\nAnd therocket\'s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet waveO\'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,\nWhere the foe\'s haughty host in dread silence reposes,\nWhat is that which the breeze, o\'er the towering steep,\nAs it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?\nNow it catches the gleam of the morning\'s first beam,\nIn full glory reflectednow shines in the stream:\n\'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave\nO\'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!\n\nAnd where is that band who so vauntingly swore\nThat the havoc of war and the battle\'s confusion,\nA home and a country should leave us no more!\nTheir blood has washed outtheir foul footsteps\' pollution.\nNo refuge could save the hireling and slave\nFrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave\nO\'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!\n\nOh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand\nBetween their loved home and the war\'s desolation!\nBlest with victory and peace, may the heav\'n rescued land\nPraise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.\nThen conquer we must, when our cause it is just,\nAnd this be our motto: \"In God is our trust.\"\nAnd the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave\nO\'erthe land of the free and the home of the brave! \n\nThe Performance of \"The Star Spangled Banner\" was taped by Leigh Richards with permission of the 2008 World\'s Toughest Rodeo featuring the \"Toughest Cowboy\" competition, televised on Fox Sports Network (FSN)\n\"The Star Spangled Banner\" (The NationalAnthem) © 2008 Leigh Richards Creative Communications. All Rights Reserved. cowboys, LeighRichards, patriotic, Philadelphia, TheNationalAnthem, TheStarSpangledBanner, TheWarof1812