American Anthem

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2019

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Star-Spangled Banner is the official anthem for the United States, but there are plenty of songs that have become informal American anthems for millions of people. This week, we share three stories from NPR Music's American Anthem series that highlight the origins of songs that have become ingrained in American culture.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Rhonda Bdenfetta.
0:01.7	I'm Romteen AddaBlui and this is Threwline from NPR.
0:05.6	So it's July 4th. Do you have any plans for Romteen?
0:09.0	Kind of.
0:10.0	Wait, I have to say this.
0:12.0	I like to celebrate Fourth of July, but I don't like crowds.
0:15.4	So...
0:16.2	So no fireworks for you?
0:17.2	I'm gonna try to watch the fireworks from far away from people.
0:20.8	Okay, fair enough.
0:22.0	It needs barbecue.
0:23.4	Yeah, I definitely have a barbecue.
0:25.0	I'll probably go to a friend's house for barbecue.
0:27.0	But try to watch it from far away.
0:29.2	That's my whole thing. Stay away from crowds.
0:31.2	Okay, that's completely understandable.
0:33.2	Obviously, this holiday is to celebrate United States independence.
0:36.2	And one song that embodies the spirit of it is the star-spangled banner.
0:42.2	It's, of course, the national anthem.
0:44.2	But there are also plenty of other unofficial anthems that have resonated
0:48.2	with different people for different reasons.
0:51.2	NPR music has been collecting these American anthems over the past year.
	...

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