The Star Spangled Banner: at least it's better than God Save The Queen

I’ve been listening to The Star Spangled Banner recently, largely because I’ve finally realised that the lovely tune featured at least once in every American blockbuster is in fact the national anthem of the United States (and because of its use on the My Chemical Romance song Goodnight Dr Death, in which that wonderful, building ending is replaced by a startling interrupted cadence. Yes, I’ve been revising for my music GCSE too). I’ve never been a patriot, but for all my well honed cynicism The Star Spangled Banner makes me want to rise from my seat, cast aside my revision notes and sing to the heavens in a passionately tuneless voice, God bless America.  Every time I hear it, I’m struck to the bone by a sudden epiphany and I truly understand why every American seems so proud of the country.  And yet, I’m from England. I’ve never even visited the states.

So what culture-connecting power does the American anthem have to inspire me to such an extent? The sheer quality of music is one thing; The Star Spangled Banner is just under two minutes of nationalistic oral bliss with potentially racist undertones. More important however is the dismal, dreary halo surrounding my own nation’s anthem, currently entitled God Save The Queen (until good old Queen Liz decides to snuff it and pass the title on to Prince Charles, perhaps the only person in the country who’d be less competent as head of state than the Queen herself. At least she behaves).  Not only does God Save The Queen lack the booming, stately aurora of The Star Spangled Banner, its “born to reign over us” tag rings hollow in a time where the monarchy has been cheapened by the media and inevitably become irrelevant.

Perhaps it’s the simple fact that music holds more power over the human mind than the confines of a country that makes me prefer the American national anthem to our own, as the Yanks clearly have the edge on the songwriting front. Maybe it’s my age old hatred for the monarchy which has disillusioned me with God Save The Queen. In any case, the chances of changing our anthem to something more interesting are about as remote as Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats winning a landslide majority in the general election next year, so I’ll just stick to foreign imports for my nationalism fix until the revolution comes.