Star Spangled Banner VBR MP3 1.0 mb, Star Spangled Banner OGG format 855.5 kb which is a free, open standard container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The OGG format is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.
The words were written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, who had been inspired by the sight of the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry after a night of heavy British bombardment. The text was immediately set to a popular melody of the time, "To Anacreon in Heaven."
The tune is a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith (March 30, 1750 – September 21, 1836) for the Anacreontic Society, a London social club. "The Anacreontic Song". Smith wrote the tune in the mid-1760s, while still a teenager. It was first published by Longman & Broderip in London in 1778/1779.
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This media file is a work of a U.S. Department of Defense employee, made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the media file is in the public domain.
Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office.
This Composition is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain.
This composition is also in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris) in this case Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779–January 11, 1843) and John Stafford Smith (March 30, 1750 – September 21, 1836), and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from December 31 of that date.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early lightThis audio is part of the collection: Community Audio
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru 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 through 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?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out of of their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave'
From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Artist/Composer: The United States Air Force Band
Keywords: Star Spangled Banner; national anthem
Creative Commons license: Public Domain