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Playlist: Fourth of July

Compiled By: PRX Editors

 Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestrated1/">Timothy K. Hamilton</a>
Image by: Timothy K. Hamilton 
Curated Playlist

All the ingredients you need.

These are picks chosen by PRX editorial staff. You can see all Independence Day radio on PRX by using our search.

New for 2023

Food Fight

From Things That Go Boom | 59:00

The time for summer barbecues is here, but how much do you know about the food on your plate? Host Laicie Heeley unpacks the surprising ties between global conflict and the meals we might take for granted. First, we meet a military mom struggling to feed her family, even as her husband serves -- then we hear from children of the US Secret War in Laos who are keeping their family's stories alive through food.

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This time of year, with the flags and bunting, flipping burgers on the grill… it tends to get us thinking about what exactly it means to be American.

There are a lot of answers to that question. But one we don’t often explore has to do with those burgers, or pad thai… whatever you might find on your plate… and what those things have to do with our national security.

In this special from from Things That Go Boom, Inkstick Media, and PRX: Two stories about food, family, and the choices our government makes in our name.

The US Secret War turned many Southeast Asians into refugees. Now their kids are keeping that story alive. 

But first…. We meet one of the one-in-four military families dealing with hunger, even as they serve our country.


Hour (49:00-1:00:00)

Broad Stripes, Bright Stars, and White Lies: America's First Flag

From Smithsonian | 52:00

In honor of Flag Day and the Fourth of July, the Smithsonian unveils the often misunderstood stories behind two of our nation's most famous flags: the Betsy Ross flag, and the Star Spangled Banner.

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Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. At least, that's what we were taught in school. But when historians go searching…there’s no proof to be found. So how did this story get started? In this special hour-long episode of the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast,  we unravel the Revolutionary history behind this vexillogical tall tale. In the process, we learn that the real Betsy Ross was anything but the mild mannered seamstress we think we know. And we discover the work of the women behind another of America's most famous flags: the Star Spangled Banner. 


Sidedoor is a production of the Smithsonian Institutuion. More than 155 million treasures fill the Smithsonian’s vaults, but where public view ends, 
Sidedoor begins. With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers, and astrophysicists, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian’s side door to search for stories that can’t be found anywhere else. 

The Declaration Does Not Apply

From New Hampshire Public Radio | Part of the Civics 101 series | 51:31

The founders left three groups out of the Declaration of Independence: Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, and women. This is how they responded.

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The founders left three groups out of the Declaration of Independence: Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, and women. This is how they responded.

A few years ago, Civics 101, New Hampshire Public Radio's podcast about the basics of how our democracy works, did a series revisiting the Declaration of Independence, and three groups for which the tenants of life, liberty, and property enshrined in that document did not apply. We bring you all three parts of that series today.

Part 1: Byron Williams, author of The Radical Declaration, walks us through how enslaved Americans and Black Americans pushed against the document from the very beginning of our nation’s founding.

Part 2: Writer and activist Mark Charles lays out the anti-Native American sentiments within it, the doctrines and proclamations from before 1776 that justified ‘discovery,’ and the Supreme Court decisions that continue to cite them all.

Part 3: Laura Free,  host of the podcast Amended and professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, tells us about the Declaration of Sentiments, the document at the heart of the women’s suffrage movement.

"Divided States: Efforts to Pull Together When Things Fall Apart"

From Shirley Jahad | 59:58

The theme of this special is a great fit for your programming needs in the days leading up to and the days following the July 4th holiday! This self-contained hour of highly-produced documentary stories explores some of our national divisions and efforts to come together. Stories cover efforts to emerge from Qanon, the controversy over teaching ethnic studies, how online doxxing has created real-life dangers, Asian Americans coming together in the face of hate crimes and the unifying power of music.

Default-piece-image-2 The theme can be a perfect fit for your special Fourth of July Holiday programming: 
As we emerge from isolation and pandemic, we find ourselves in many ways, a nation divided. This a self contained hour of documentary-style features takes a dive into issues that divide us and efforts to pull together. Our stories explore how some family members of Qanon believers are feeling a sense of loss and grief and are fighting for ways to deprogram and free them from the conspiracy theories ... how ethnic studies has become a hot button issue ... how online doxxing more and more often is leading to real-life danger ... how Asian American communities are coming together to fight hate crimes ... and how music brings us all together.

This hour of in-depth, documentary-style news features is made possible by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

A Music Mix for America (Single Hour-Long Version)

From Paul Ingles | Part of the 10,000 Good Songs series | 58:59

A stand-alone hour of music curated by public radio music host Paul Ingles that celebrates the word AMERICA or AMERICAN or USA in every title. This largely celebratory parade of cool tunes makes for a good roll on a patriotic holiday, (4th of July, Flag Day, Memorial Day). Artists featured include Chuck Berry, Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Presley, Mark Knopfler, David Bowie, James Brown, Crosby & Nash, Simon & Garfunkel and more.

Usa-strat-guitar_small A stand-alone hour of music curated by public radio music host Paul Ingles that celebrates the word AMERICA or AMERICAN or USA in every title.  This largely celebratory parade of cool tunes makes for a good roll on a patriotic holiday, (4th of July, Flag Day, Memorial Day).   Artists featured include Chuck Berry, Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Presley, Mark Knopfler, David Bowie, James Brown, Crosby & Nash, Simon & Garfunkel and more.

PLAYLIST

Back In The USA 2:27 Chuck Berry from The Great Twenty-Eight
Surfin' U.S.A. 2:29 The Beach Boys from Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys
R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (A Salute To 60's Rock) 2:55 John Mellencamp from Scarecrow
America 3:42 Simon & Garfunkel from The Bridge School Concerts
American Tune 3:24 Crooked Still from Friends of Fall
American Woman 4:22 Lenny Kravitz from Rolling Stone Cover 
Jesus Children Of America 4:11 Stevie Wonder from Innervisions
Young Americans 5:12 David Bowie from Sound+Vision
Born In The USA 3:19 Pickin' On Series from Pickin' On Bruce Springsteen: A Bluegrass Tribute
Do America 4:12 Mark Knopfler from Sailing To Philadelphia
American Girl 3:34 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from The Big Jangle
Living In The USA 4:05 Steve Miller Band from The Best Of 1968-1973
Living In America 4:43 James Brown from Rocky IV (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
American Land 4:23 Bruce Springsteen from Wrecking Ball (Special Edition)
An American Trilogy 4:18 Elvis Presley from Platinum: A Life In Music (Disc 4)
My Country Tis Of Thee 1:55 David Crosby from Oh Yes I Can
America The Beautiful 3:36 Ray Charles from Anthology

A MEDITATION ON AMERICA Music Mix - Hour 1

From Paul Ingles | Part of the 10,000 Good Songs series | 59:00

First of 3 music mix hours featuring a host of performers expressing the complicated feelings about life in America - in songs that both celebrate what is good and noble about the U.S.A., while sometimes offering up a critique of how our nation must do better. Artists included in Hour 1 include Chuck Berry, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, James Brown, Ray Charles and more.

Usa-strat-guitar_small First of 4 music mix hours featuring a host of performers expressing the complicated feelings about life in America - in songs that both celebrate what is good and noble about the U.S.A., while sometimes offering up a critique of how our nation must do better.  Artists included in Hour 1 include Chuck Berry, John Mellencamp, Jackson Browne, Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Steve Miller, James Brown, Ray Charles and more. 

HOUR 1
For America - Jackson Browne
R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. -John Mellencamp
American Dream Plan B - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
American Girl - Elle King
Back In The USA -Chuck Berry
America - Simon & Garfunkel
American Tune - Crooked Still
American Farmer - The Charlie Daniels Band
Momma Miss America - Paul McCartney
American Woman - Lenny Kravitz
Jesus Children Of America - Stevie Wonder
American Fiction - Ona
American Land - Bruce Springsteen
American Idiot - Green Day
Young Americans - David Bowie
America The Beautiful - Ray Charles

LBJ and the Great Society

From LBJ and the Great Society | 52:00

This Independence Day feels like the right time for political history among celebrations.

Hosted by Melody Barnes, an advisor to President Obama, this hour covers the backstory behind 1960s policies that are still being debated.

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President Lyndon B. Johnson is today remembered largely for his failure in Vietnam. But before the war sunk his presidency, LBJ compiled a record of accomplishment on the domestic front unmatched since FDR.  Medicare, civil and voting rights, clean air and water, Head Start, immigration reform, public broadcasting — fifty years later, these programs are so deeply woven into the fabric of American life that it is difficult to imagine the country without them.  

So how did Lyndon Johnson, who made so ruinous a mess in Vietnam, pull off so extraordinary a feat at home? That’s the question we’ll be exploring through the recorded recollections of those who were there when this history was being made, and who had a hand in its making. Hosted by Melody Barnes, chief domestic policy advisor to Barack Obama and now co-head of the Democracy Initiative at the University of Virginia.

Happy B-Day USA

From Wind & Rhythm | 59:29

How do you celebrate Independence Day? With hotdogs and a baseball game? Sunscreen and swimming pools? What about patriotic music and a slice of apple pie? This week on Wind & Rhythm we say Happy Birthday to the USA, right here at the gathering place for people who love band music.

E529_photo_small_small How do you celebrate Independence Day? With hotdogs and a baseball game? Sunscreen and swimming pools? What about patriotic music and a slice of apple pie? This week on Wind & Rhythm we say "Happy Birthday to the USA", right here at the gathering place for people who love band music.

Freedom Jazz!

From WFIU | Part of the Night Lights Classic Jazz: Specials series | 59:01

A uniquely jazzy tribute to the spirit of liberty and America, featuring music by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Jackie McLean, Ray Charles and more.

Playing
Freedom Jazz!
From
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Perfect for the Fourth of July or other celebratory national holidays!  “Freedom Jazz!” offers a uniquely jazzy tribute to the spirit of liberty and America, featuring music by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Jackie McLean, Ray Charles and more. 

O Beautiful! American Music

From William Zukof | 58:50

New American music for voices by Meredith Monk, William Bolcom, Tania Leon, Matthew Harris, Eric Salzman, Robert Dennis, Billy Joel, Elliot Z. Levine and Gayla Morgan. Interviews with the composers and arrangers are woven into the show. From the Western Wind.

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O Beautiful! American Music
The Western Wind, America's longest running professional vocal ensemble has created a repertory of vibrant new works for voices.  O Beautiful! American Music presents music by Meredith Monk, William Bolcom, Tania Leon, Matthew Harris, Eric Salzman, Robert Dennis, Billy Joel, Elliot Z. Levine and Gayla Morgan.  Interviews with the composers and arrangers are woven into the show.  The title is taken from Gayla Morgan's brilliant pastiche of "America the Beautiful" and "Rte.66" with an allusion to "I Like to be in America" from West Side Story. It  captures the exuberance and inclusiveness of our time.

The Church of Pancakes

From KUFM - Montana Public Radio | Part of the Notes From the Huntley Project series | 58:45

Emotion battles ethics in this action-packed caper. Nine-year-old Jaybird and his partner in crime, Kenny, love the Fourth of July — the sound of a burning fuse and the smell of gunpowder. But coming up with the perfect plan to rob the local fireworks stand is going to be harder than they expected.

Cop_fireworks-stand_small In Notes from the Huntley Project , Jay Kettering's comedic and thought-provoking radio series, a middle-aged man reflects on a childhood spent in small-town space-time, where love meets mysticism and adventure meets imagination.

Episode I:  My Dad and Pre-Socratic Thought

Episode II:  How I Learned to Tell Time

Episode III:  The Church of Pancakes

Emotion battles ethics in this action-packed caper. Nine-year-old Jaybird and his partner in crime, Kenny, love the sound of a burning fuse and the smell of gunpowder—on the Fourth of July, they get high just inhaling the air. But coming up with the perfect plan to rob the local fireworks stand is going to be harder than they expected. Perhaps because in their world, moon landings and tripping on psychedelic dog food are no more unusual than becoming fireproof with a kiss. And the instigator of this crime of passion, the bewitching ten-year-old Mexican migrant worker, Carlita Milkey, only makes the task of distinguishing the real from the imagined all the more difficult. Listen in as the fifty-three-year-old narrator recalls his nine-year-old self, revealing what a kid will do for love and what the love of a memory can do to the heart and mind of a storyteller.

The Church of Pancakes was written by Jay Kettering
Directed by Teresa Waldorf

Performed by:
David Mills-Low: Narrator, Jaybird
Anne-Marie Williams: Carlita Milkey
Cody Hysolp: Mr. Oltroggie, Kenny Finch
Reid Reimers: Dad, Adolphus Johansson aka Apple Juice
Teresa Waldorf: Nardo Aquino, random kids

Recorded by Beth Anne Austein in the studios of Montana Public Radio
Edited and produced by Chérie Newman

HV018- Flags and Fireworks

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Hearing Voices series | 54:00

Celebrating America with flags, fireworks and summer festivals.

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Host: Larry Massett of HearingVoices.com

Celebrating America with Flags and Festivals, featuring:

Recitations and reflections on “The Pledge” of Allegiance” and “War vs. Peace” (by Joe Frank).

The annual “Rainbow Family” migration into the Montana forest on July Fourth — their day of prayer for peace (produced by Barrett Golding, photos by Chad Harder).

A town that covets their title of the “Armpit of America” — host Larry Massett welcomes you to Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Mississippi moonshine, barbecued goat and old-time Fife & Drum at “Otha Turner’s Afrosippi Picnic” with producer Ben Adair.

HV011- Road Trip

From Hearing Voices | Part of the Hearing Voices series | 54:00

An hour of travelers' tales for your long weekend, from spending a day with an ex-KGB spy, to hitchhiking across the U.S., and more.

011roadtrip200_small This is an episode in the series Hearing Voices from NPR now being offered as a standalone special.

Host: Larry Massett of Hearing Voices

Summary: Host Larry Massett spends a "Long Day on the Road" with ex-KGB in the Republic of Georgia. Scott Carrier starts in Salt Lake and ends on the Atlantic in this cross-country "Hitchhike." Lemon Jelly adds beats to the life of a "Ramblin' Man." The band Richmond Fontaine sends musical postcards from the flight of "Walter On the Lam." And Mark Allen tells a tale of a tryst with a "Kinko's Crackhead."

Listener info and links:
http://hearingvoices.com/news/2009/05/hv011-road-trip/

0:15 On-Air Promo Text: This week on Hearing Voices: "Road Trip," Travelers’ Tales, it's a Road Trip, with ex-KGB in the Republic of Georgia, and a cross-county hitchhike.

America the Beautiful (Hour Long Version)

From With Good Reason | Part of the With Good Reason: Weekly Half Hour Long Episodes series | 53:56

An American music and literature hour begins with patriotic musical performances by the likes of Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Marvin Gaye, and Jimi Hendrix, and concludes with in-depth discussions of the lives and literature of Walt Whitman and Edgar Alan Poe.

America_the_beautiful_small From Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial to Marvin Gaye’s singing of the National Anthem at the NBA Finals, the theme of patriotism can be heard throughout African American music. Benjamin Ross offers selections from this rich musical heritage. Also: Published in 1946, The Street by Ann Petry was the first million-selling novel by an African American author. Keith Clark says Petry deserves to be in the pantheon of other great American writers like James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. Plus: Luisa Igloria has written one poem a day, every day, for the last three years. She talks about finding inspiration from the Philippines, where she was raised; from her daughters; and from, of all places, Christopher Reeve.

Later in the show: In 1862, Poet Walt Whitman went to Fredericksburg, Virginia, searching for his brother George who had been wounded in a Civil War battle. Mara Scanlon and Brady Earnhart say Whitman was so moved by the carnage he found that he worked as a nurse for the rest of the war. Also featured: 19th -century poet and author Edgar Allan Poe is still considered the master of the macabre. Jerome McGann says Poe, whose influence is probably unmatched by any American author, was more charming and humorous than his famous dark fiction suggests.


The Classics

May the Fourth Be with Us!— American Routes Independence Day Then & Now

From American Routes | Part of the American Routes Specials series | 01:59:01

A 4th of July special program free to all stations with music from Nina Simone, Randy Newman, Sly Stone and Jon Batiste, plus live performances from The American Roots Independence Day concerts from Charles Brown, the Texas Playboys with Johnny Gimble, Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, Young Tuxedo Brass, Ledward Kaapana and Clyde "Kindy" Sproat.

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This July 4th weekend, we bring you music of celebration and critique, in this hopeful yet troubled time with an hour of words and music from Nina Simone, Randy Newman, Sly Stone and Jon Batiste. Then, the July 4th roots of American Routes. The program began with a series of Independence Day concerts held annually at the Washington Monument before the fireworks show on the National Mall. The live broadcasts featured the best of American vernacular musicians and cultures. In this hour, we highlight spectacular stage performances by the urbane blues hero Charles Brown, the Texas Playboys with Johnny Gimble playing Western swing, Mexican-American Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, the Young Tuxedo Brass with New Orleans jazz, and Hawaiian music and song from Ledward Kaapana and Clyde "Kindy" Sproat. The program, originally directed and hosted by Nick Spitzer, was produced by the National Park Service, National Folk Festival, Radio Smithsonian and WAMU FM for live broadcast on NPR nationwide between 1993-2001. 


Half-Hour (24:00-30:00)

Shortcuts To Freedom

From Peter Bochan | Part of the Shortcuts series | 29:02

July 4th Classic

Rainbowstage_m_small A July 4th Special with George Carlin, Martin Luther King Jr, the cast of "West Side Story", Lenny Bruce, John Wayne, James Cagney, Ronald Reagan, Noel Coward, Stan Freberg, The Firesign  Theatre, Van Dyke Parks, Johnny Horton, Father Guido Sarducci, Ry Cooder, Tex Ritter, Melvin Van Peebles, LBJ, Richard Nixon, Ed Sanders, Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, The Bonzo Dog Band, The Everly Brothers, Paul Frees, Eugene Ormandy, Chicago, Jack Armstrong "The All-American Boy" and Jay & The Americans... First aired and produced in 1974


Drop-Ins (2:00-4:59)

4th of July Fireworks

From Hans Anderson | 03:27

A humorous, unique piece about setting off fireworks on the 4th.

July4_medium_medium_small Humorous piece about setting off fireworks on the 4th. It's good to know going in that this is about Fireworks. Probably should mention that in the intro if you use this piece. One piece is dry (no music bed) the other had some music. Take your pick.

A Taste of America: Fireworks

From Jake Warga | 04:56

A behind the scenes look at the American Fireworks team, and what it means to be an American, during the Macau International Fireworks Contest.

Warga4july05_small A behind the scenes look at the American Fireworks team, and what it means to be an American, during the Macau International Fireworks Contest. Aired July 4th, 2007, All Things Considered: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11737366

Jefferson & Science

From William S. Hammack | 02:46

An engineer sees science in the Declaration of Independence.

Default-piece-image-2 Every Fourth of July I read the Declaration of Independence. Over the years I've detected, with my engineers eye, an unmistakable trace of science and math in the Declaration. Phrases like "laws of nature" had deep meaning for the Founders. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, all members of the committee that wrote the Declaration, used science as a source for metaphors. They believed it to be the supreme expression of human reason. For no Founder was science more important than Jefferson, the Declaration's main author. What does this mean for us today?

Virginia: Colony to Commonwealth (Series)

Produced by Steve Clark

Historical insights about life in 17th and 18th century Colonial America, in light of events in Virginia that carried it from colony to commonwealth.

Most recent piece in this series:

Artillery in the Revolution

From Steve Clark | Part of the Virginia: Colony to Commonwealth series | 03:17

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In the eighteenth century there were three basic types of artillery: cannon, mortars and howitzers. Historian Edward Ayres discusses the differences and the various uses of the types of guns. Ayres also talks about the sources for colonial artillery and how it shaped the outcome of various engagements in the American Revolution.

This I Believe - Andrew Sullivan

From This I Believe | 03:16

Although born in England, Andrew Sullivan finds his beliefs in America's Declaration of Independence.

Tiblogobluesmallrgb_small HOST INTRO: Andrew Sullivan was born in England and has an immigrant's love for the ideals of America. He draws his convictions straight from the Declaration of Independence -- His anthem is to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Here is political commentator and blogger Andrew Sullivan with his essay for This I Believe. ESSAY TEXT: I believe in life. I believe in treasuring it as a mystery that will never be fully understood, as a sanctity that should never be destroyed, as an invitation to experience now what can only be remembered tomorrow. I believe in its indivisibility, in the intimate connection between the newest bud of spring and the flicker in the eye of a patient near death, between the athlete in his prime and the quadriplegic vet, between the fetus in the womb and the mother who bears another life in her own body. I believe in liberty. I believe that within every soul lies the capacity to reach for its own good, that within every physical body there endures an unalienable right to be free from coercion. I believe in a system of government that places that liberty at the center of its concerns, that enforces the law solely to protect that freedom, that sides with the individual against the claims of family and tribe and church and nation, that sees innocence before guilt and dignity before stigma. I believe in the right to own property, to maintain it against the benign suffocation of a government that would tax more and more of it away. I believe in freedom of speech and of contract, the right to offend and blaspheme, as well as the right to convert and bear witness. I believe that these freedoms are connected - the freedom of the fundamentalist and the atheist, the female and the male, the black and the Asian, the gay and the straight. I believe in the pursuit of happiness. Not its attainment, nor its final definition, but its pursuit. I believe in the journey, not the arrival; in conversation, not monologues; in multiple questions rather than any single answer. I believe in the struggle to remake ourselves and challenge each other in the spirit of eternal forgiveness, in the awareness that none of us knows for sure what happiness truly is, but each of us knows the imperative to keep searching. I believe in the possibility of surprising joy, of serenity through pain, of homecoming through exile. And I believe in a country that enshrines each of these three things, a country that promises nothing but the promise of being more fully human, and never guarantees its success. In that constant failure to arrive - implied at the very beginning - lies the possibility of a permanently fresh start, an old newness, a way of revitalizing our selves and our civilization in ways few foresaw and one day many will forget. But the point is now. And the place is America.


Interstitials (Under 2:00)

How to Sing the Star-Spangled Banner

From Jackson Braider | 01:32

Jenny Hersch, musical maven and part-owner of a baseball team, reveals the secrets of singing our anthem. From Jackson Braider.

Default-piece-image-0 The Star-Spangled Banner is a difficult song to sing. Set to a tune created by bunch of drunken English louts, our national anthem is filled with sordid little singing tricks that would challenge the most sober of souls. Fortunately, Jenny Hersch, folk bassist and once a part owner of a Pittsfield baseball team, saw through the Royalist plot and has come up with this foolproof guide for how to sing The Star-Spangled Banner right and in tune every time.