Our anthem or Nuestro himna: are they the same?

Over at NPR they’ve got a very useful posting about the Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner, which has aroused quite a bit of controversy. Created just in time for the big protests on Monday, this Spanish version begs the question: Is this an attempt to show how devoted illegal immigrants are to our country, or is it an attempt to co-opt the national anthem for the purpose of those who want full amnesty and an open border?

Now, first, let me say that I think it’s a bit embarrassing that our national anthem was set to the tune of a drinking song, and that it is practically unsingable. But be that as it may, I also am a purist about it, since I love my country and believe that it deserves the utmost honor. It personally makes me blanch every time I hear someone play fast and loose with the singing of this song, displaying their narcissistic vocal pyrotechnics when all we really need is to think about the duty and sacrifice and honor that is encumbent upon us as Americans. Just hit the notes, please, so we can concentrate on what’s really important. And by the way—it’s even worse when the singers forget the lyrics or mangle them in their focus on showing off their vocal chords.

Here are the lyrics to the Spanish song, as published on the NPR site:

Nuestro Himno (Our Anthem)
Amanece, lo veis?, a la luz de la aurora?
lo que tanto aclamamos la noche caer?
sus estrellas sus franjas
flotaban ayer
en el fiero combate
en señal de victoria,
fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada.
Por la noche decían:
"Se va defendiendo!"
Oh decid! Despliega aún
Voz a su hermosura estrellada,
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?
Sus estrellas, sus franjas,
la libertad, somos iguales.
Somos hermanos, en nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate en señal de victoria,
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertada.
Mi gente sigue luchando.
Ya es tiempo de romper las cadenas.
Por la noche decían: "!Se va defendiendo!"
Oh decid! Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada
sobre tierra de libres,
la bandera sagrada?

English translation:

By the light of the dawn, do you see arising,
what we proudly hailed at twilight's last fall?
Its stars, its stripes
yesterday streamed
above fierce combat
a gleaming emblem of victory
and the struggle toward liberty.
Throughout the night, they proclaimed:
"We will defend it!"
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?
Its stars, its stripes,
liberty, we are the same.
We are brothers in our anthem.
In fierce combat, a gleaming emblem of victory
and the struggle toward liberty.
My people fight on.
The time has come to break the chains.
Throughout the night they proclaimed, "We will defend it!"
Tell me! Does its starry beauty still wave
above the land of the free,
the sacred flag?

You can also click a link there to hear a version that is being played on many Spanish-language radio stations.

I am troubled by the change in meaning of the above song, and I do not think it is a matter of mere translation. This is not the same national anthem. For comparison’s sake, let’s remind everyone what the actual lyrics are:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming,
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there?
O say! Does that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

See, it’s a set of questions, and the answer, then and now, as I tell my students, is “YES!”

Yes, our flag does still fly. We have watched it fly in times of war and struggle. It has been carried into battle for the defense of our country. shrouded in the smoke of cannon fire.

It has flown in times of sorrow.

It has draped the caskets of millions of heroes and heroines.

It has served as a beacon and a hope and an appeal to “the better angels of our nature,” in the words of Abraham Lincoln, when our leaders have drifted from the ideals for which it stands.

Our flag is an emblem of freedom so strong that it can withstand the attempt of people to politicize it, but that does not mean that we should not defend it. And defend it we must.