Star Spangled Banner Patriotism

The Star Spangled Banner
Patriotism reflects the affection and reverence one has for the nation they were born in and lived their whole life. Devotion to country can be shown through many different ways of which one is the recitation of the nation’s national anthem. The people of the United States of America display their loyalty to their nation by reciting “The Star Spangled Banner.” Over the last seventy-nine years many singers have sung the U.S national anthem, but there are four renditions that are widely recognized. Each version of the anthem sung by different artists over time mirrors different passions, but always ends up showing the pride and loyalty the artists feel for their nation, The United States of America. The version of the anthem “The Star Spangled Banner” sung by the U.S Air force Band is undeniably a very customary and nationalistic version. The band is able to perform it zealously at various 4th of July celebrations and many other occasions. The music is composed by using trumpets, drums and flutes which display a gallant feeling, and of course provoke a sense of nationalism to the country, fulfilling the artist’s purpose of the song, which is to make the audience feel the
sense of love for their nation. The extreme electric-guitar abilities of Jimi Hendrix are shown through his version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” His rendition of the anthem is a proclamation of the freedom he has got in his country proudly shown through his performance of the national anthem.
The tune of the electrical guitar that Hendrix plays on, adds an exuberant and wild sound to the anthem, which actually imitates the wildness of the War of 1812 at Fort McHenry. The anthem ends with a peaceful tone, not like it begins, symbolizing the victorious moment, and joyfulness of the war. The main purpose achieved by Jimi Hendrix is apparent, which was to make the audience actually live through the highs and lows of the War of 1812, just like Francis Scott went through when he composed the
anthem. Another vocal band, The Gaither gives an extremely influential performance of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Their performance leaves a strong impression of loyalty on the audience. Unlike, the U.S. Air force Band and Jimi Hendrix, The Gaither tends to stretch out certain lyrics of the song in order to highlight the importance of the fact that our flag symbolizes the utter patriotism of the Americans, still lives on. The artists’ goal through their performance is to show the audience the eternal and everlasting affection they have for The United States of America. Whitney Houston, a member of the Florida Orchestra performs the national anthem in a really impressive condition. Her patriotism and loyalty she has for her country shines through her voice and the high notes and stretches she hits during the song. These things are an apparent example of the endless amount of admiration and loyalty she feels for her country. The drums and other various instruments in the background help embellish her of “The Star Spangled Banner.” She achieves her purpose of making her way into the hearts of the listeners during her performance with her high notes of the song. Each of the four renditions of “The Star Spangled Banner” has one thing in common; they all elicit a strong sense of nationalism, patriotism and eternal love for the country, but each version also gives off different kinds of feelings, each of which are opposite from the other. Each singer has a different kind of emotion that they hope to elucidate through their performance, but at the end, no matter how each performer interprets their meaning of the anthem; their devotion always shines through the way the lyrics are sung.