The Star-Spangled Banner (The Times They Are A-Changin')
Album: Fits and Starts: Selections
By: Kevin Cryderman
By: Kevin Cryderman
Duration
4:08
Description
This is a folk version of the American national anthem performed and arranged by Canadian (but US permanent resident) singer-songwriter Kevin Cryderman. While the music here, loosely based on Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin,’” is very different than the standard anthem tune of John Stafford Smith’s “Anacreontic Song,” the lyrics are still Francis Scott Key’s poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry."
Lyrics
Eb tuning, regular Oh, [G] say can you [D] see, by the [Em] dawn's early [C] light, What so [G] proudly we [D] hailed at the [C] twilight's last [D] gleaming? Whose [G] broad stripes and [D] bright stars, through the [Em] perilous [C] fight, O'er the [G] ramparts we [D] watched, were so [C] gallantly [D] streaming? And the [Em] rockets' red [C] glare, the bombs [G] bursting in [D] air, Gave [Em] proof through the [C] night that our [G] flag was still [D] there. O [Em] say, does that [C] star-spangled [G] banner yet [D] wave O'er the [Em] land of the [C] free and the [G] home [D] of the [G] brave? [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] On the [G] shore, dimly [D] seen through the [Em] mists of the [C] deep, Where the [G] foe's haughty [D] host in dread [C] silence re- [D] poses, What is [G] that which the [D] breeze, o'er the [Em] towering [C] steep, As it [G] fitfully [D] blows, now [C] conceals, now dis- [D] closes? Now it [Em] catches the [C] gleam of the [G] morning's first [D] beam, In full [Em] glory re- [C] flected now [G] shines on the [D] stream: 'Tis the [Em] star-spangled [C] banner! O [G] long may it [D] wave O'er the [Em] land of the [C] free and the [G] home [D] of the [G] brave? Harmonica solo over [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] and then [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] X3 And [G] where is that [D] band who so [Em] vauntingly [C] swore That the [G] havoc of [D] war and the [C] battle's con- [D] fusion A [G] home and a [D] country should [Em] leave us no [C] more? Has their [G] blood wiped [D] out their foul [C] footstep's pol- [D] lution? No [Em] refuge could [C] save the [G] hireling and [D] slave From the [Em] terror of [C] flight, or the [G] gloom of the [D] grave: And the [Em] star-spangled [C] banner in [G] triumph doth [D] wave O'er the [Em] land of the [C] free and the [G] home [D] of the [G] brave? [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] Oh! [G] Thus be it [D] ever, when [Em] freemen shall [C] stand Be- [G] tween their loved [D] homes and the [C] war's deso- [D] lation! Is it [G] victory and [D] peace in this [Em] heaven-rescued [C] land? Do they [G] praise the [D] Power that [C] destroys [D] nations? Oh [Em] conquer we [C] must? Is [G] our cause [D] just? Do [Em] we need a [C] motto: "In [G] God is our [D] trust"? Will the [Em] star-spangled [C] banner for- [G] ever shall [D] wave? O'er the [Em] land of the [C] free and the [G] home [D] of the [G] brave? [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [G] [C9] [D] [Dsus4, D, Dsus2] with repeat of the last two lines and then ritardando D riff and end on [G]
