The Star-Spangled Banner

In this episode, Cydni and Sher dive into the story of the Star-Spangled Banner while Cydni battles a “trendy” sore throat. They share historical insights about the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key’s emotional experience, and the significance of seeing the American flag flying through the battle. Tune in for a mix of history, humor, and heartfelt moments. Plus, don’t miss their July summer series, combining history, happiness, and joy!  This episode is, "The Star-Spangled Banner" and we are so glad you are here! 

This Week's Challenge
This week, we challenge you to simply read the Star-Spangled Banner. If you have a chance, sit down with your family or loved ones and talk about what it means to you.

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Episode 117 - The Star Spangled Banner

Sher: [00:00:00] Do you know what the irony is here? Cydni? What in our last episode, you talked about, what it feels like when you have a sore throat and then you appreciate. when you feel better, how good your throat feels.

Cydni: That is wild because of this. I didn't even remember. It's true. look at me sitting in gratitude for something and still getting a sore throat. But you're right, I was sitting there in gratitude and I thought that if you're grateful, then you don't have anything go wrong. Isn't that what we're learning about? 

Sher: That's what we were hoping, but we're learning in real time that it doesn't work that way. Yeah, 

Cydni: but I think it's because we just went to Paris. Oh. And I feel like because we went to Paris and we're so trendy that of course our trendy family would catch onto the new COVID strand faster than other people because we're just trendy. It's painful to be trendy and my situation here, which they're calling the razor throat, it's trendy. It hurts, but it's trendy. [00:01:00] So that is why I should have a platform and be an influencer because I'm trendy.

I. Do you have any friends? No. I'm just kidding. Cydni. And we know you're kidding. I am always trendy with the wrong stuff. 

Anyway, Welcome to the Cydni and Sher Podcast. Fireworks. Fireworks. 

Sher: Alright, Cydni. So as we've been talking about this whole entire year, we have been doing a deep dive into how to be happy, and we started this year by learning that as children of God, happiness is our birthright. God wants us to have joy. So for our July summer series, we're going to combine history, happiness, and joy. Most of the stories will be a little less serious, but since it's almost the 4th of July we wanted to talk about the Star Spangled Banner and the history behind it. 

Cydni: I didn't know what Spangled meant. I had to look it up. It's just 'cause my throat hurts. I think. I think I knew it, but my throat hurts since I forgot. So it's a star decorated banner. [00:02:00] I Thought it was gonna be really deep. Spangled.

Sher: I think it's because of the word spangled. It sounds like it should be a little more fun, 

Cydni: I mean, he was a poet. Don't you know it? 

Sher: I guess so. 

Cydni: I once again, because we went to Paris and I fell in love with the history, then I thought on the way home, when you actually dive into the history of something, you really do gain such an appreciation and a passion and a love for it.

I said to Ben, we really need to do a tour of American history because I wanna feel the same way about America as I do about the cathedrals in Paris. And so then you did come up with this, and I've loved it. I listened to several. Documentaries on the Star Spangled Banner and last night as a family, we discussed it.

Oh, awesome. My kids need need more than I expected. That's really cool. Yeah, they were really intrigued with that actually, which surprised me. they didn't know some of the details that make it so special, but one thing I know we're gonna do a shorter episodes through July, but when you [00:03:00] learn the history and you spend time understanding it, it becomes. A very real part of your life and when I was watching one documentary, a man who works every day of the year in Fort McHenry, he was asked, what do you think about people wanting to rewrite. The national anthem and he said, I would tell those people, come here and learn the history. Learn why those words were written, what happened to bring those words out of somebody and you will not want to change any of the words. And I thought it was beautiful. 

Sher: I love that. I . Absolutely agree. All right. Shall we get started then? Let's do it. the Star-Spangled Banner was a poem that was written during the war of 1812, and then shortly after the poem was published, it was put to a popular bar song, and then that's how it became an actual song.

Cydni: And still to this day, it's one of the first songs played at a bar, I believe. Like as soon as people wanna get up and dance on that table with their beers, it's the Star Spangled Banner that gets that party going. 

Sher: Of course Americans would put it to a bar song. I just think [00:04:00] that's funny.

Cydni: I think it's just like Guns Beer America. You know, Spangled. Banners. 

Sher: So some background about the war of 1812 is the British Royal Navy was forcibly taking our American sailors and making them work on their ships. They basically were kidnapping our citizens and forcing them into their navy and claiming they were deserters from British ships. This obviously angered the US and they didn't like that Britain was still treating them like they're subjects. The war had been over for quite a few years, and Britain is still like, Hmm, maybe, maybe not so much. And we didn't appreciate it. Britain also was blocking our trade ships with other countries, so we weren't able to get where we needed to go to conduct trade. And this was making us angry as well. And so what we did in response to this is we allowed Americans to arm themselves on their own ships, and they basically became pirates and we started stealing stuff from off the British trade ship. So if you're not gonna let us get to [00:05:00] where we need to go, we're going to have our citizens become pirates and steal it from you, 

Cydni: which is our backup plan. If the podcast does not work out, Sharon and I will be traveling the world as pirates.

Sher: I don't think I wanna be a pirate. 

Cydni: well what if we don't do it at sea? We Just like go into a mall.

Sher: I mean, I don't think I could steal anything. I'm too big of a chicken. 

Cydni: I've had this conversation recently with friends of, have you stolen anything? And there were two groups of us and half of us did, half of us hadn't. The half that did all were, at least that's what we say, were like six, seven, and it was candy. I was one of those. Of course you were. But I did want to tell you in my listening to the history by the same man who works there, he said that what was happening is civilians some of them were taking British soldiers captive on their own. So a Farmer found a few of the British boys in their chicken coop, and he took it upon himself to. Have them as captives. payback Cydni, right. Payback. I mean, get out of the chicken coop. Right. 

Sher: Exactly. You're gonna hide in the chicken coop. [00:06:00] You're gonna get captured Exactly America also attacked Canada and then at the end of the war the US beat Britain up pretty darn good at the Battle of New Orleans. But it was during this time period. That the Star-Spangled Banner was written, and it was written by Francis Scott Key. He was a lawyer and he also liked writing poetry. He was on a British ship trying to negotiate a prisoner release because Britain, again was kidnapping our people as well. And so, he was on a British ship when the British attacked Fort McHenry, which is in Baltimore, have you ever seen. Fort McHenry? No. I've never gone in it. I've walked around it. It was closed when I got there, of course, but I've been past it a few times. It's not a very big fort, and every time I've seen it, I've cried because I love history and I'm a baby.

Cydni: I did see it on a YouTube video, and I did appreciate it a lot, but I've been to a lot more cathedrals in Paris though. Silence is [00:07:00] deafening. 

Sher: Oh my word. I know. All right, so moving on. I want everyone just to imagine here for a second that you are stuck on an enemy ship while they are bombing the crap out of your country. You are on their ship watching them do this. I would just feel so helpless. And I'm sure the British were not kind and said some really harsh words towards the Americans that were on their ship. that would, to me be a terrifying experience. There was absolutely nothing you could do, but just watch your fort, your country get destroyed by the enemy? It would just be heart-wrenching. 

Cydni: I've heard that there was a journal entry where somebody at Fort McHenry said that it truly felt like they were pigeons tied down with absolutely nothing to do, but get shot at 

Sher: that. Is terrible. And this is what you need to think of when you are reading or singing the national anthem. It's describing this moment and what it felt like and how emotional that must have been for them. So this all went down on September [00:08:00] 1814. The British Navy just opened fire and just started blasting Fort McHenry with rockets and Cannon Fire Francis Scott Key I'm sure he was so anxious and felt helpless. I'm sure he was worried about his home. The fort the people in the for as well as himself and the other Americans that were on the British ships. He and the other Americans on board watched all through the night. Hoping and praying that as the rockets exploded over Fort McHenry. That the flag was still there. They watched over the ramparts. Ramparts are the walls of the fort, just hoping they would still be able to see the flag. The flag at Fort McHenry was enormous for the time. It was 30 by 42 feet, and I think it was the largest flag flown in combat up to that point, it was sewn by Mary Young. Pinker's Gill and her helpers. Mary worked with a team of women to sew it by hand. It took 'em about six weeks and it weighed 50 pounds, i've seen it at the Smithsonian a few times, and [00:09:00] shockingly I cried when I saw that. 

Cydni: my understanding is that they wanted the flag so large that the British could see it from any distance. Oh, I love that. Which answers the age old question does size matter? And the answer is yes when it comes to flags and cake . I don't know what else. 

Sher: So this is the flag, this enormous flag where size does matter that Francis Scott Key was looking for it all through the night during the battle as Britain was attacking, again, picture yourself on the ship. You're just straining for all your worth to see as the rockets explode. Our flag is still flying, and all of a sudden after this horrendous battle, everything goes quiet. all you can hear is just the water hitting the boat. Nothing else, nothing from the Americans, nothing from the British. It is complete silence, and you have no idea what happened because it's still dark, so you don't know who won. You have no idea. Can you imagine [00:10:00] waiting until the sun comes up to see that flag, those hours in silence, not knowing what happened, how stressful that would be, not knowing if the British were now invading the homeland, having no idea what had happened. Just complete silence that. Had to have been absolutely terrifying. And again, the reason this flag becomes so important is because as they're waiting for that sun to come up, is it gonna be an American flag? Or is it going to be a British flag? If the American flag is still flying, that means we're still hanging in there and now that it's silent looking and straining to see if it was our flag or the British to know if the British had taken it over or not. Had to have been just a terrifying time. Yeah. And this is what he's gonna express in this poem that he wrote, how he felt waiting in those moments. 

Cydni: And not to mention one thing that stood out the most when I was learning about this story is how the flag remained standing. Young men [00:11:00] and older men were out there understanding what it meant. If the flag came down, they knew what it meant, and many men sacrificed their life to make sure that the flag was still standing. The way they did that was they went out in the open and they with their own bodies, their own hands held up the flag and many of them were killed doing that. And then other men would come in and replace it because they understood how important it was that the flag remained. 

Sher: And throughout history you can read about so many stories of men and women sacrificing their lives to make sure the symbol of our country was still flying.

Cydni: I think the key with what you said and this, I like that I keep saying key because it's Francis Scott key . It's just happening, it's just flowing. But the key is that they understood what the flag represented. And what we are trying to instill is that if you understood what took place to be where we are, then we also could have that. Perspective and that [00:12:00] passion and love for our own country and our own freedom. 

Sher: Absolutely. Or you can teach it for 30 years, it kind of gets in your soul and heart a little bit.

Cydni: Yeah. You could do either of those. Either one. You could listen to our podcast or teach for 30 years at a middle school. 

Sher: All right, so let's go ahead and start with verse one. And remember, everything is quiet now. , And they don't know what happened. What are they gonna see? Is it gonna be American flag, a surrender flag, a British flag? They have no idea. as the sun started to come up, this is what Francis Scott Key said to the other Americans on board. He said, oh, say, can you see by the Dawn's early light? Can anyone see if it's our flag or a different flag that is flying? Notice it's a question mark.

It was there at twilight's, last gleaming. We could see those broad stripes and the bright stars through the perilous fight . Over the ramparts we watched and when we asked each other if the flag was streaming. It was, and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night [00:13:00] that our flag was still there.

But what about now as the sun is coming up, oay, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave? Notice that it ends with a question mark the anticipation of which flag is flying is gut wrenching.

The whole first verse and the only verse that we ever sing ends with a question mark. It's asking if our flag is still flying and, you know. Sometimes I wonder is it still flying? Because do we respect it? Do we honor it? Do we even understand our history? Is our flag still flying? And does it mean what it should mean in the hearts of all of us?

 Francis Scott Key is gonna explain what it should mean later on in the other verses the second verse says, but then what is that in the breeze as it Fitfully blows half conceals, half discloses. Question mark Now. All of us have seen this before. When you have those big flags or any flag, really, you know how when the wind's blowing, [00:14:00] how it closes and then blows out?

That's what he's seeing, but it's still just dark enough that he can't quite tell which flag it is. He knows there's a flag, but he doesn't know what it looks like. Continuing with the second verse, now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam in full glory reflected now shines in the stream.

Ts the Star-Spangled banner. Oh, long may it wave over The land of the free and the home of the brave, exclamation point. The question marks are gone. They actually see the flag. So again, imagine yourself on this boat. Everything was quiet. They have no idea who won, and they can see a flag as that sun is starting to come up and this moment. Is capturing the joy that they all felt when they saw that our flag was still flying. That is what he's trying to capture here and this was such a joyful moment for them. So this entire song is about how Francis Scott Key felt when he saw the flag in [00:15:00] probably what was one of the worst nights of his entire life. He saw our flag and then he knew for sure that we didn't lose the battle or the fort. His home, his friends, his family were probably safe. The third verse, he does get a little bit defiant against the British and he basically says, you got what you deserved. My personal favorite though is the last verse. I love it. 

Cydni: Can I say something about the last verse? I loved a perspective a man gave. He said, remember when listening to the last verse that he was a lawyer and lawyers put their most important point. In their closing argument. So remember that his closing argument is the fourth verse. 

Sher: I love that Cydni. This is a good closing argument he said, oh, thus be it ever. When free men shall stand between their loved homes and the war's Desolation.

Blessed with victory and peace. May the heaven rescued land praise the power that has made and [00:16:00] preserved us a nation, then conquer. We must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto. God is our trust, and the Star-Spangled Banner and triumph shall wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The point in this last verse is this one, it recognizes and praises God that He has preserved us. The first thing that all of us should remember as a country and in our personal lives, recognize and praise that it is God that has preserved us. And two, if we put our trust in God, then our flag in triumph shall always wave over the land of the free and the home of the brave.

But we need our trust, our faith, and our obedience to God in order for that to work. And we also need to praise him in gratitude. When he does protect us, when he is there for us, recognize God's hand in the life of the country and in our own lives. In Psalms chapter [00:17:00] 27, verse one, it says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? we live in a crazy, uncertain time right now, but the Lord, he has our back. He's our light, and he is our salvation. He can bring peace and joy to our souls, even in times of fear. Francis Scott Key wrote this poem, expressing his joy, after seeing the flag still fly after a terrible battle.

. He ends up by saying that this is always possible. If we put our hope, faith, obedience in God, and then show our gratitude to Him, Cydni and God is my trust, and I am so grateful for the hope and joy that the truth brings into my life.

Cydni: We challenge you this week to simply read the Star Spangled Banner, and if there's a situation in which you could sit with family or loved ones and discuss it, do it. 

Sher: I love that challenge. This brings us to our final thoughts. This month, we're combining history with happiness and joy as part of our July [00:18:00] summer series.

The story behind the Star-Spangled Banner reminds us that even in the darkest moments, there is hope. Francis Scott Key spent a long, terrifying night watching the British bombard Fort McHenry, not knowing if the fort or the people inside would survive.

When the sun came up and he saw the American flag still flying, it was a powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, and divine protection. That flag told him that we had made it through his words, captured more than just a battle. They captured The deep relief, faith and joy that come after fear.

The Star-Spangled Banner is more than a national anthem. It's a reminder. With God, we can stand strong through every storm if we choose to trust and obey Him. This is our prayer from Sidney and Cher Exclamation 

mark. Perfect. [00:19:00] 

Sher: That is, Ooh, that popped a smr. That's my ears. I did not like that. Did you know 

Cydni: that's like the most watched is A SMR stuff. My kids like it. I don't even know what that is. It's just someone who makes noises into the mic, like, and other things. I don't like it. And they do it with their nails. Like, Ooh, stop it.

No, 

Sher: stop it. 

Cydni: We should just do that instead. Except for, I hate all of the noises. 

Sher: what am I trying to say? Great. My brain's gonna have a brain fog. How did I teach this without crying to my class? They're making you mad. Do, you're making you know mad. I know. No, shut up and listen to me. OB is serious. We didn't lose the battle or the for, or the fort or the, 

Cydni: Okay, hold on. Lemme try one more time. Brain work. Okay. 

Sher: Quit crying my head. Ugh. 

Cydni: Should I record you for Instagram crying? Would you like that? No It's like, you know how they have OnlyFans. [00:20:00] It could be only crying. Only crying. Share. Crying, only crying all the time. OC only crying 

Sher: so much content. Have a good week. Bye.