What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thru the night that our flag was still there.
Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
The first verse of the United States national anthem. A poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, set to music written in 1773 by John Stafford Smith, and adopted as the US national anthem in March 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.
The land of the free and the home of the brave. We owe that today to our many veterans and current armed forces. Today, we thank our brave men and women who continue to fight for us and keep us safe. Thanks also goes out to Gina and Lorna, two, proud veterans, from our Il Volo group! Is there anyone else out there? 🙂
As we know, our guys love America and their US fans. In fact, they learned to sing our national anthem and they have been wowing American fans over in Italy the last few weeks by shouting out refrains of it along with America the Beautiful! Here is my favorite version of the Star-Spangled Banner! From 2013, at Dodger Stadium!