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 rockets red glare, The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there; Oh! Say does that Star-Spangled Banner Yet wave! O’er the land of the free And the home of the brave. O’er the land of the free And the home of the brave.
Author of the Lyrics: The lyrics are originally from “Defence of Fort McHenry”, a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, and the music came from a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society.