The History of the Star-Spangled Banner

[REBROADCAST FROM July 5, 2022] If you were educated in a U.S elementary school, you may have heard the story of how "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written. At a battle in Baltimore during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key watched the British bomb American forts, and decided to write patriotic lyrics that eventually became the country's national anthem. But the story of the lyrics, how Key's words became the anthem, and how its role in our culture has changed throughout the last two hundred years, is much more complex. Today, you can hear the national anthem in many aspects of life, be it a high school football game, a concert, or a graduation. Ahead of July 4 celebrations, Mark Clague, professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, joins to discuss his new book, O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of "The Star-Spangled Banner.