LOL I can't carry a tune in a basket, so even "Happy Birthday" is difficult for me.

In my family, not singing in a crowd was considered a polite act.

Rob, you haven't stood near me!! ;-)

The most I will do is very quietly, or even silently, mouth the words when I want to participate. Mostly, I prefer to simply stand and take my hat off (even though I'm a woman and in ancient days of my youth, women and girls didn't take their hats off, only men and boys did).

I'd be proud to be next to you. My mom can't carry a tune in a bucket (her words. But I agree ;), but I couldn't be more glad to hear her sing hymns in church.

When I was six my mother leaned over to me in church and told me it would be ok if I wanted to lip synch the hymns.

I can't sing either, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I love the Star Spangled Banner. Trying to hit the right notes is part of the American tradition.

Appreciate your comments, but think: if a professional singer or even someone with voice training experiences difficulty singing it, maybe it might be time to replace it, or even have two national anthems. I always thought America the Beautiful is much easier to sing, but the diction is clumsy; still, I have often stated in the past that it would be a better national anthem overall. I have often thought This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is Our Land would work as well. Kate Smith pretty much made God Bless America a second national anthem. All three songs emphasize the beauty and diversity of the American landscape.

What it has going for it is that there are no long notes for poor singers to deal with, as do some of the songs you've mentioned, Scott. What's made a hash of the versions more commonly heard is the habit of singers at public events to try to sing the song in an R+B or the "American Idol" singing style. Sung straight up, it's not bad.

I love This Land is Your Land but Guthrie is probably too controversial a figure for the extreme conservative factions to accept.

I have to agree with Elmer on this one. I don't mine singers giving a little embellishment here and there to a song, and making the National Anthem more emotional is ok in my book. But going all over the place with runs and notes isn't about the song but the singer.

My DH has a beautiful tenor voice and can sing the heck out of almost any song. He cringes when he hears someone butcher our anthem. And swells with pride when done well. I love singing it too.

Hard to sing or not, it's our (the US's) National Anthem. The meaning of it, and the sentiment behind singing it, matters to me. I don't care what the song is or if it's hard to sing (I don't find it so nor do I find the diction bad), I sure wish more people were unified for our country and working toward improving things together rather than tearing us apart.

Yes, we have work to do. We've always had work to do. And our enemies are just loving our unrest. Pfffft.

The star spangled banner should be sung traditionally. I cannot stand it when "modern" singers add all these extras and trills to the song.

Perhaps the answer to something that is difficult is not to replace it, but to strive to do one's best. After all, achieving and keeping the freedoms won for the people of the United States was/is difficult also.

In my opinion, the best version is the one sung by Whitney Houston.

The Star Spangled Banner

Before retiring and relocation to central Ohio, we lived near Cleveland for 42 years. For most of those years, Rocco Scotti sang the national anthem 50 times a season.

He was pretty good.
Rocco Scotti

best rendition of Start Spangled Banner... Whitney Houston... what a waste!

whenever I hear God Bless America, I think of the Philadelphia Flyers, from back in their "Broad Street Bullies" days. Kate was their "mascot" ... good luck charm... in a way. she sang at flyers-bruins Stanley cup playoffs in 1974.

Is anyone else aware that the tune was originally written for a bawdy drinking song (To Anacreon in Heaven) and it only became the US National Anthem in 1931?

Yes. It's not a song with a long tradition.

Further, when the lyrics including "land of the free" were written in the early 19th century, one third of the residents of the US were slaves. Hypocrisy at its best, then as now.

I've often thought it's a shame that "I Vow to Thee My Country" has not been taken up as a national anthem by any country. I LOVE that song!

Regardless of the time it was written, and all that was going on, the song has evolved to mean so much more to many of us. Language is fluid, and this expression of patriotism certainly seems to be.

My ex husband used to close my hymnal in church. He was a jerk!

I'm very glad he's your ex Vicki. There's something wrong with someone who would interfere with an integral part of a Christian's worship life.

I've long believed that there's much better options for an anthem but the reality is that it's not likely to be changed. Too many who take it so personally as more of a trinket of their version of "patriotism". I think you show your patriotism far better in how you live your life, rather than singing a song and flying a flag. It's so hypocritical to see people standing at attention, singing the anthem and wearing their flag pins while they lie, cheat, steal, dodge taxes, won't speak up when they witness something, etc. Not much different than the so-called "religious" who don't understand ethics, morals, vows, laws, etc.

Vicki I am glad he's your ex. One can follow along with the words in a hymnal even if you don't sing. I have done that many times when I had no voice from laryngitis.

I love The Star Spangled Banner and often get goosebumps, hearing it sung. I posted a few years ago about admiring my home team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, when their fans sang out, to complete the US. anthem, after the audio failed. But Toronto doesn't have the only fans who know the words and will happily oblige, to make sure your anthem is heard. The Oiler's fans, from Alberta, sang it from start to finish, a few months ago. This goes to show that it doesn't matter if you're not 100% on key when singing, it's what's in your heart that counts! http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oilers-fans-sing-u-s-anthem-microphone-stops-working/

Has anyone here ever seen a video of the UK's "Last Night at the Proms"? They always do a medley of patriotic songs and everyone is waving a small Union Jack and it's just very wonderful to see and hear. It's true patriotism at it's best - a uniting force, not one that pulls people apart.

anglophila, I think the British (as with other Europeans) are substantially less patriotic than Americans (though I often wonder if it's something most Americans truly understand, I'm not sure most do). Patriotism there is, if anything, low key and tends to be cultural. On the political front, regional tensions (devolved autonomy for the Scots and the Welsh, the Northern Irish to a lesser extent) and the issues du jour (Brexit for now) provide far more disunity than could be imagined here.

As a professional opera singer, I can attest that the American national anthem is difficult for most non-professionals to sing. Untrained voices rarely feel comfortable singing throughout the required range of an octave and a fifth (or two full octaves if one takes the optional high note on the word "free" at the end) - in fact, even many pop singers don't, which is why you often hear them scraping for the lowest notes or veering flat when it gets high. However, that's no reason to replace it, IMO. Happy birthday is considered a difficult song for many because it has an octave leap in the middle, but no one seems to think we should reinvent that wheel.

You mean there's a reason I can't sing Happy Birthday worth a darn? well, that boosts my confidence!