National anthem in other languages? Heard this before

WASHINGTON — President Bush, Congress and anyone else upset over the Spanish translation of the national anthem might be interested to know that the U.S. government gave its blessing to a different version 87 years ago.

That translation of "The Star-Spangled Banner," prepared by the Bureau of Education in 1919, has been available on the Library of Congress Web site for two years without so much as a sniff of disapproval.

Besides Spanish, the library has vintage translations in Polish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Armenian, among others. A little Googling will turn up versions in Samoan and Yiddish, too.

With 6,800 known languages, who knows how many more are out there?

For all the outrage, two of three Americans don't know all the words to the national anthem, according to a Harris Poll. A lot of them don't even know the song.

Those who want to ban foreign-language versions of the anthem have their work cut out for them.

"What's sort of surprising for us here who've lived with 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is that everyone has their shorts in a bunch about it," said Loras Schissel, a musicologist at the Library of Congress. "It's old news."

Until last week, that is, when some Latino pop stars released a Spanish version with somewhat different lyrics ("The time has come to break the chains") called "Nuestro Himno," or "Our Anthem."

It landed in the middle of a heated debate over immigration. The song's producer and singers hoped to fire up the immigrant community. To critics, they might as well have torched a flag on the Capitol steps.

Musically speaking, the reaction was fortissimo. Once Spanish-language radio aired the song, talk radio, blogs and cable, along with members of Congress, reacted with outrage.

In contrast, the 1919 government-sponsored Spanish translation evoked a collective yawn, if anyone was paying attention.

"National airs and anthems were popular music at the time," Schissel said. "You bought them on 78 [rpm] records, and people sang them around the piano."

But the new Spanish version could become a political rallying cry.

"Symbols like the flag and the national anthem take on some sacred meaning on both sides in a controversy over national identity," said Yale University's Ron Eyerman, an expert on music and social movements.

Today, however, many critics insist the song should be sung in English. Period.

"The national anthem is a symbol of unity of a diverse people united by our common values and Constitution," said Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo. "That's why it should be sung in English."

Talent and Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., are among co-sponsors of a bill from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., requiring that the anthem never be recited or sung in a foreign language. Rep. Jim Ryun, R-Kan., has a similar bill in the House.

Even pro-immigration groups such as the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil-rights group in the country, said translating the anthem was a mistake.

"Anthems are sacred, and we have to be respectful of that," La Raza spokeswoman Lisa Navarrete said.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., has said the anthem "should not be lost in translation. ... The words, the phrases, the expressions — they all count for something irreplaceable."

But Jaime Contreras, chairman of the National Capitol Immigration Coalition, said the song could not be translated literally, and the new wording helps people make a "connection about the movement." It was not meant to offend anyone, he said, but as a tribute to the United States.

"When the president wants to run for office, he runs ads in broken Spanish and people don't feel offended," Contreras said. "It's like getting mad because somebody is trying to honor you."