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As baseball season swings into gear, more Americans are singing the national anthem.
But according to a test conducted by The Daily Beast of 73 adults ages 19-80, only 11 percent knew the lyrics to the national anthem. The survey followed Christina Aguilera’s infamous Super Bowl fluke, when she sang the national anthem incorrectly in front of millions of Americans watching the program.
The National Anthem Project, which teaches younger students the song, reports on its website that “nearly two in three Americans don’t know all of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The 2004 poll surveyed 2,200 American adults, and while most reported learning the song at school, about 5 percent of respondents said they learned the anthem at sporting events.
In the spirit of the Twins’ home opener Friday and Tommie baseball’s home opener Saturday, TommieMedia put the St. Thomas community to the test to see who knew the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
How many St. Thomas students does it take to recall the lyrics of our National Anthem? Funny stuff.
Do they include the second through fourth verses in this count? Because those always kills me. “And where is that band who so vauntingly swore / that the havoc of war, and the battle’s confusion…” Who ever hear that bit?