Behind the lyrics of 'The Star-Spangled Banner'
By Jessie Campisi and AJ Willingham, CNN
It’s a song every American has heard countless times – and can probably recite by heart. But how much do you really know about our national anthem? Let’s take a line-by-line tour of the history and meaning behind the lyrics.
The basics
Like so many famous songs of yore, "The Star-Spangled Banner" started as a poem, called “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812. The stanzas recount the Battle of Baltimore, a days-long siege between British and American forces.
The poem was set to a tune called “The Anacreontic Song,” which was composed in the late 1700s by a man named John Stafford Smith. The song was linked to the Anacreontic Society, which was an amateur musician’s and singer’s club named after the Greek poet Anacreon.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” wasn’t actually adopted as the official anthem of the United States until 1931, though it was already popular and had already been used by several American institutions by then.
