Description
Book SynopsisThe best-known songs in the world are violent, sexist, and religious so why do we celebrate national anthems when we should be rewriting them?Fascinating and thoughtful ... showcases how anthems divide us even as they promise to bring communities together. MARK CLAGUE, author of
O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of The Star-Spangled BannerThis fascinating popular history of national anthems begins in a London theatre in 1745 when the modern idea of anthems was born. They started out as triumphant expressions of national superiority by glorifying violence, claiming the support of God, and mostly ignoring women.
David Pate has experienced the violent side of anthems firsthand: as a schoolboy in Scotland, he was caned for refusing to sing God Save the Queen. He says it's time to dump lyrics about cutting throats, watering fields with blood, building walls with the bodies of enemies, and celebrating the sound of machine guns.
