Star Spangled Banner 250 Years Anthem: The Songwriter's Story

It was a battle for the ages.

Drawing of the 15 Stars and Stripes Flag of the U.S. Colonies

The American colonies found themselves battling for freedoms on land and sea against her motherland, one of the world's greatest military mights.

The first shots had been fired and heard around the world as an act of rebellion to be squashed at any cost.

On this night, a fantastic naval battle was unfolding in the bay, and brave patriots ill-equipped for the onslaught found themselves out gunned and out of range to defend against the high powered munitions of the British forces.

One man crouched in the darkness with nothing put a pen and slip of paper he had already used to write what he well considered to be his last letter home.

Helplessly he floated just outside the mortar shocks as the battle raged through the night, his tiny vessel dipping and churning in the waves.

Did our forces prevail or did the Empire reclaim her prize colonies?

There was no way to know for sure until the first rays of twilight revealed the answer.

If the British prevailed, they would snatch down the flag flown by the colonists and replace it with their own.

The young man in his boat fervently prayed that the dawn would reveal victory in the form of the hand-stitched 15 stars and stripes that represented the brave new nation that he so loved.

Maybe he drifted off for a moment in the chaos of bombardment, the only response when the body can neither fight nor flee being to freeze.

And then, as the revealing light shone her first few streaks of color upon the battle scene, nearly too afraid to look, the young Francis Scott Key raised his head above the edge of his boat to peer into the distance.

Was our flag still there?

As if by some miracle, the 15 stars and stripes of the colonies still flew proudly amidst the smoke and shells of combat still raging at sea.

But the symbol was clear - victory.

Anguished and elated, Key took pen to paper and began to scribble the words that would become our young country's national anthem.

Oh say can you see

By the dawn's early light

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 rocket's red glare

The bombs bursting in air

Gave proof through the night

That our flag was still there

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free

And the home of the brave

He wrote the rest upon arriving in Baltimore, and published the lyrics in a local magazine.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The song was adopted as the National Anthem of the United States of America, and now, 250 years later, she is sung from sea to shining sea as a celebration of victory, freedom and unity of the brave.

Many of us songwriters have never spent the night in the bottom of a boat in the midst of a raging battle, but we can relate to the elation expressed in the first few lines of Francis' verse.

Sometimes when there is nothing that can be done, all there is left to do is pray and if you have a slip of paper, to write a song.

Thank you to Francis Scott Key for putting words to paper for our proud nation to sing and celebrate all these years, inspiring pride in soldiers and civilians, young and old.

Here's a collection of fine renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner" national anthem of the United States of America and her flag, now consisting of 50 stars and stripes to represent her 50 United States.

Enjoy and feel free to comment with your well wishes for our nation's 250th birthday celebration.