National Anthem in Spanish - So What?
This whole National Anthem thing puzzles me. I haven't heard the Spanish language interpretation of our National Anthem called "Nuestro Himno" (Our Anthem) that has some people pulling their hair out, but I have to wonder why anyone cares? Isn't it the message of the song, not the language, that matters? The Holy Bible has been translated countless times into almost every language on the planet (including English—gasp! NOT it's original language) and that gets hailed. The Beatles regularly recorded their biggest hits in other languages and nobody is calling for their mopped heads. So why are people upset that the message of "Star Spangled Banner" is being sung in Spanish with some added flavor from the artists?
Even President Bush has weighed in saying, "One of the important things here is that we not lose our national soul." What? And what, exactly, is our national soul? According to Bush, our soul only speaks English. Now, that's dumb, but not entirely offensive like some of these shitheads are getting.
The author of the cleverly titled Pardon My English says he almost puked when he heard the song. Really? I wonder how he reacted to Toby Keith's last album?
Seriously, what's so offensive about this?
Update: Check out some sheet music for the 1919 version of La bandera de las estrellas courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Also: Candidate Bush Would 'Sing The Star-Spangled Banner in Spanish' At Hispanic Festivals.
Comments
Yeah, what's the hoopla all about? Beats Roseanne Barr, doesn't it?
Posted by: barabajagal | April 28, 2006 4:04 PM