LEFT SPEECHLESS： Alberta Man Reacts To Star Spangled Banner As You've Never Heard It - Canada
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
117.601135
Summary
The story behind the lyrics of the iconic and very symbolic song, "The Star Spangled Banner" and the history behind the song that bears the lyrics, "Star spangled banner" is the story of how a lawyer by the name of francis scott key negotiated for the release of American prisoners held captive by the British Empire.
Transcript
00:00:00.400
hey everybody happy friday happy 4th of july happy independence day to my friends
00:00:06.640
and viewers south of the border today's video is going to be a little bit different
00:00:12.240
somebody suggested to me to react to this video having to do with the american national anthem
00:00:22.320
the star spangled banner having to do with the history of the flag and the history behind the
00:00:32.720
lyrics of this iconic and very symbolic song that means so much to all americans and really people
00:00:45.200
around the world who appreciate the historic importance of the american revolution so we're
00:00:52.320
going to be watching it today and we're going to be commenting on it let's get into it
00:01:06.400
there was a lawyer once his name was francis scott key
00:01:09.200
he penned a song that i'm sure you're aware of you've seen it it's in most hymnals throughout
00:01:14.960
our churches it's called the national anthem it is our song as an american we go however to a ball
00:01:22.640
game we stand in our church services and we sing the words of that song and they float over our minds
00:01:27.600
and our lips and we don't even realize what we're singing most of us have memorized it as a child
00:01:32.160
but we've never really thought about what it means let me tell you a story
00:01:35.440
francis scott key was a lawyer in baltimore the colonies were engaged in vicious conflict
00:01:44.640
with the mother country britain because of this conflict and the protractedness of it they had
00:01:50.720
accumulated prisoners on both sides the american colonies had prisoners and the british had prisoners
00:01:55.840
and the american government initiated a move they went to the british and they said let us negotiate for
00:02:00.640
the release of these prisoners they said we want to send a man out to discuss this with you they
00:02:07.440
were holding the american prisoners in boats about a thousand yards offshore and they said we want to
00:02:13.520
send a man by the name of francis scott key he will come out and negotiate to see if we can make a mutual
00:02:18.960
exchange on the appointed day in a row boat he went out to this boat and he negotiated with the british
00:02:24.720
officials and they reached a conclusion that men could be exchanged on a one-for-one basis
00:02:31.840
francis scott key jubilant with the fact that he'd been successful went down below in the boats
00:02:36.080
and what he found was a cargo hold full of humanity men and he said men i've got news for you tonight
00:02:43.520
you're free he said tonight i have negotiated successfully your return to the colonies he said
00:02:50.720
you'll be taken out of this boat out of this spilt out of your chains as he went back up on board to
00:02:57.040
arrange for their passage to the shore the admiral came and he said we have a slight problem he said
00:03:02.240
we will still honor our commitment to release these men but it'll be merely academic after tonight
00:03:08.240
it won't matter francis scott key said what do you mean he said well mr key he said tonight we have laid
00:03:17.600
an ultimatum upon the colonies your people will either capitulate and lay down the colors of that
00:03:25.840
flag that you think so much of or you see that fort right over there fort henry he said we're going
00:03:32.000
to remove it from the face of the earth he said how are you going to do that he said if you will scan
00:03:39.200
the horizon of the sea and as he looked he could see hundreds of little dots and he said that's the
00:03:46.880
entire british war fleet he said all of the gun power all of the armament is being called upon to
00:03:53.520
demolish that fort it will be here within striking distance in a matter of about two and a half hours
00:04:00.320
he said the war is over these men would be free anyway he said you can't show that for it
00:04:06.000
he said that's that's a large fort he said it's full of women and children he says it's predominantly
00:04:12.960
not a military fort he said don't worry about it they said we've left them a way out he said what's
00:04:20.640
that he said do you see that flag way up on the rampart he said we have told them that if they will
00:04:29.120
lower that flag the shelling will stop immediately and we'll know that they've surrendered and you'll
00:04:37.200
now be under british rule francis scott key went down below and told the men what was about to happen
00:04:51.600
the ships got closer francis scott key went back up on top and he said men i'll shout down to you what's
00:04:56.320
going on as we watch as twilight began to fall and as the haze hung over the ocean as it does at sunset
00:05:12.560
he says the sound was deafening there were so many guns that there were no
00:05:16.560
reliefs he said it was absolutely impossible people need to understand that when the americans
00:05:23.040
fought the american revolution the british empire was the most powerful military force on the planet
00:05:30.560
nothing came close at that time they were the most powerful institution they were the most powerful
00:05:38.960
government it was an empire and their fleet was insane they outnumbered the americans heavily
00:05:48.640
the sky although dark was suddenly lit he says from down below all he could hear the men the prisoners
00:05:56.800
saying was tell us where the flag is what have they done with the flag
00:06:05.840
is the flag still flying over the rampart tell us
00:06:11.600
one hour two hours three hours into the shelling
00:06:14.560
every time the bomb would explode and it would be close to the flag they could see the flag and the
00:06:22.640
illuminated red glare of that bomb and francis scott key would report down to the men below it's still up
00:06:36.000
the admiral came and he said your people are insane he said what's the matter with them
00:06:39.760
he said don't they understand this is an impossible situation
00:06:47.200
francis scott key said he remembered what george washington had said he said the thing that sets
00:06:52.000
the american christian apart from all other people in the world is he will die on his feet before he'll live
00:07:00.720
the admiral said we have now instructed all of the guns to focus on the rampart to take that flag
00:07:10.640
down he said we don't understand something our reconnaissance tells us that that flag has been hit
00:07:17.280
directly again and again and again and yet it's still flying we don't understand that
00:07:24.480
but he said now we're about to bring every gun for the next three hours to bear on that point francis
00:07:43.760
the prayer god keep that flag flying where we last saw it
00:07:55.760
he said there was a heavy mist hanging over the land but the rampart was tall enough
00:08:03.360
there stood the flag completely nondescript in shreds
00:08:14.880
francis scott key went aboard and immediately went into fort henry to see what had happened
00:08:26.800
and what he found had happened was that that flagpole and that flag had suffered repetitious direct hits
00:08:39.120
but men fathers who knew what it meant for that flag to be on the ground
00:08:46.880
although knowing that all of the british guns were trained on it walked over and held it up humanly
00:09:02.320
their bodies were removed and others took their place
00:09:07.360
francis scott key said what held that flagpole in place at that unusual angle
00:09:14.720
he penned the song oh say can you see by the dawn's early light
00:09:25.520
what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
00:09:32.240
for the rocket's red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that the flag was still there
00:09:42.560
oh say does that star-spangled banner yet fly and wave
00:09:54.000
for the land of the free and the home of the brave
00:10:19.280
what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
00:10:39.600
And bright stars through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
00:11:02.940
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
00:11:32.940
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
00:12:12.000
That song, the star-spangled banner, the national anthem of the United States, it's a song that obviously every American has heard.
00:12:26.580
Most North Americans have heard it, whether at a hockey game or basketball game, and you don't think about it much.
00:12:34.260
You know, you know, the lyrics vaguely, land of the free, home of the brave.
00:12:42.660
But you don't think about when you hear this video, when you hear the story, it just, it hits different, hits different.
00:12:54.480
And I, yeah, I didn't, didn't know that, that history behind the national anthem.
00:13:05.140
So, I knew that the American Revolution and the process thereafter, because it's not like the British gave up right after the Americans declared independence.
00:13:15.760
And the bravery of the American founding fathers and the American people is legendary.
00:13:25.340
And hearing this story, it shows that, it showcases that.