It’s a perennial issue of minimal significance. Should the Star Spangled Banner be replaced as our national anthem? Many argue yes. Even professional vocalists struggle to hit its unusually high notes; it’s a well known fact that the melody comes from an early 19th Century British drinking song; and the lyrics are exceptionally violent for a national anthem (though certainly not compared to France’s La Marseillaise or Cuba’s La Bayamesa).

Over the years people have come up with countless appropriate alternatives. This is my top 10 list.

10: There are No Cats in America – An American Tail

Alright, I’ll admit it. I needed an even ten and I couldn’t find a legitimate “best loser” so I stole a Disney knock-off. Nonetheless, the song does express a genuine sense that this is the place where better times can be had, and with unimaginative campaign slogans like “Change” and “Yes We Can” winning over even the states of the Old Cotton Confederacy, I wouldn’t rule the tune out as a contender should the Obama administration make changing the national anthem a sincere priority (according to his staff, regulating college football is already on the agenda – so who knows.)

Suggestion: change lyrics from “there are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese” to “there are no kings in America, and the streets are paved for me.”

9: This Land is Your Land – Woody Guthrie

Despite its socialist undertones, I think This Land is Your Land could one day soon be considered a serious contender for national anthem status. It was originally composed as a retort to America the Beautiful and is today equally as popular. Its lyrics reflect the thoughts of an American poet struggling through the dramas of the early 1940s when economic instability, world war, and environmental upheaval hallmarked the day – in short, a time not unimaginably different from our own. Furthermore, the song has been successively covered by an array of age-defining artists like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, freeing it from the potential generation gaps that complicate some of the following songs.

8: We Will Rock You – Queen

Ok, I admit I got this one from Michael Moore’s The Big One, but the man has a point. People love this song and they already sing it at the ballpark, therefore eliminating any awkwardness surrounding the national anthem. Again, however, this would-be anthem has British roots, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing (many modern-day Americans do too) but it would be nice to have an authentic “American” anthem.

7: Keep on Rocking in the Free World – Neil Young

Technically Neil Young is American – but a Canadian American. Nonetheless, Rocking in the Free World is often understood as a protest to the economic policies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush – making it, in my book, authentically “American”. That being said, the song doesn’t have a shot of becoming our national anthem, principally because of its fatalistic attitude, which hardly qualifies it for patriotic anthem status.

6: Fly Like An Eagle – Steve Miller Band

Again, another able and popular contender. More importantly, Steve Miller was born and raised in the United States – making Fly Like An Eagle an authentic and “native” anthem. The lyrics, however, suggest a desire to escape, which undermines the necessary patriotic fervor behind every national anthem.

5: American Woman – Lenny Kravitz

This song was surprisingly controversial when it first appeared in 1970. Again, the song comes from foreign shores – Canada – and was interpreted as hostile toward the United States during the Vietnam era. But when Lenny Kravitz covered the song in 1999, it was warmly received and all speculation of internal symbolism was more or less erased. The song is unlikely to become our national anthem for obvious reasons, but I would be willing to bet that in the not to distant feature it will be considered an “American classic” on par with, say Lee Greenwood’s God Bless The USA.

4: Battle Hymn of the Republic – Julia Ward Howe

100 years ago, Julia Ward Howe’s The Battle Hymn of the Republic wouldn’t have stood a prayer of reaching top-ten status for national anthem alternative. The song’s message of abolition and unity was as divisive in 1931 (the year the Star Spangled Banner became our national anthem) as it had been in 1862 when Union soldiers defiantly carried its melody (though not always its lyrics) southward. Many years later, Elvis Presley performed The Battle Hymn after doing a cover for Dixie to please an audience of Americans still divided by the War. Today, The Battle Hymn of the Republic is a popular parade song for military bands and church choirs. It is an authentically American anthem, with a universally embraceable message. The only relevant drawback that can be applied to it is that it is a hymnal and therefore potentially undermines our long-standing tradition of separation between church and state.

3: When Johnny Comes Marching Home

Hear me out on this one. The song clearly reflects a longing for one’s home, and the loyalty to defend it – making it a fiercely patriotic tune. More importantly, though, its origins remain in dispute. All claims that it is a knock-off of an earlier Irish ballad have been long disproved, making When Johnny Comes Marching Home an authentic American anthem. Dating back to the Civil War, the melody – if not the lyrics – are recognizable by virtually everyone alive today. While the lyrics may not be particularly inspiring, they do recognize basic human needs like family, loyalty, country and home.

The only question is, can the American public become excited enough about a song they’re already well familiar with to make it our national anthem?

2: In God’s Country – U2

Ok, I’ll admit it. Although it’s an amazing song (and one of Obama’s favorites out on the campaign trail) there are too many problems with In God’s Country to make it our national anthem. For starters, it’s an imported work, but more importantly the lyrics are too deep and the tune too modern to be accepted as a national anthem.

1: Marching Through Georgia – Henry Clay Work

With some mild editing (removing the word “darkies” for example) I think this could become an amazing national anthem. The rhythm is up-beat and enthusiastic; the story – like The Star Spangled Banner – is inspiring; and like The Battle Hymn of the Republic, it leaves the citizen with the sense that he/she is a part of the greater force behind the words of the anthem.

The song dates back to the latter days of the Civil War, and its popularity is such that other nations have adopted it as their own battle anthems at various times in history. The Japanese sung it as their troops advanced through Port Arthur, the British as they marched across the Indian subcontinent, and Allied forces sung it in the jungles of Asia, the deserts of Africa and the fields of Europe as they pushed the Axis back from whence they came. Yet despite its international appeal, the lyrics to Marching Through Georgia have a distinctly American flavor, which can be both read in the context of their day, and in ours.

Bring the good old bugle, boys, we’ll sing another song
Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along
Sing it as we used to sing it, 50,000 strong

While we were marching through Georgia.

How the darkies shouted when they heard the joyful sound
How the turkeys gobbled which our commissary found
How the sweet potatoes even started from the ground
While we were marching through Georgia.

Yes and there were Union men who wept with joyful tears,
When they saw the honored flag they had not seen for years;
Hardly could they be restrained from breaking forth in cheers,
While we were marching through Georgia.

“Sherman’s dashing Yankee boys will never make the coast!”
So the saucy rebels said and ’twas a handsome boast
Had they not forgot, alas! to reckon with the Host
While we were marching through Georgia.

So we made a thoroughfare for freedom and her train,
Sixty miles of latitude, three hundred to the main;
Treason fled before us, for resistance was in vain
While we were marching through Georgia.

CHORUS

Hurrah! Hurrah! we bring the jubilee!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes you free!
So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea
While we were marching through Georgia.

photo credit http://flickr.com/photos/craighwk/

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