David Kopel of the Volokh Conspiracy posts the lyrics to verses 2 through 4 of "The Star-Spangled Banner." If it’s been a while since you last sang them, check it out.
He also helpfully posts two other items of interest: (1) the lyrics of "The Texan War Cry," which was written during the Texan war of independence and set to the tune of "The Star-Spangled Banner;" and (2) the lyrics of "To Anacreon In Heaven," the British song that gave us the tune in the first place.
I agree with Mr. Kopel that the lyrics to the verses after #1 have a certain timeliness today. I suspect he was thinking of the third verse, which chides citizens whose fearfulness leads them to oppose fighting. But I was struck a bit by something from the second. Taking the flag as a symbol of American values, or "what this country stands for," or whatever you like — the idea that the blowing of the wind "now conceals, now discloses" it seems pretty apt in the age of spin.
And I learned something, too. The version I learned in school — yes, once upon a time I learned to sing all four verses — went like this in the fourth stanza:
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
The unqualified assertion of justice vaguely bothered me even as a third-grader. So imagine how pleased I was to learn from a commenter on the Volokh thread that Francis Scott Key’s original manuscript goes like this:
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – "In God is our trust,"
There now, isn’t that better? I wonder who’s responsible for the change!
bearing blog 