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From the Desk of Garrison Keillor
A prolific writer, Garrison Keillor is a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines throughout the United States and abroad. To the right, you find a selection of articles published since 1989, and a few unpublished pieces.
Sing the national anthem—and try it in the key of G
July 2, 2004
Dear Friends,
According to a recent Harris Poll, two out of three Americans say they don't know the national anthem. Last spring I went to a convention of the National Association of Music Educators and got to hear them, 3,000 strong, sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," which was rousing and moving and different from what one has come to expect. The difference was that the anthem was sung in G, a good key for most people, and wasn't a vehicle for some aging diva but a terrific piece of music.
All the good folks who've complained about the national anthem over the years—unsingable, full of war imagery—are wrong, wrong, wrong. It's magnificent. And it's not about war. It's about the survival of our flag and all that it stands for. The anthem and the flag do not belong to a particular political agenda. They belong to us all, and so I've been happy to join the music educators in their national campaign to get Americans to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
This spring, before every show, I've invited the audience at A Prairie Home Companion to sing it. And they have, gladly. And on that big, resounding "land of the freeeeeeeee," people get really jazzed by it.
Here's a recording of five-thousand people singing the anthem in Guilford, New Hampshire, in June. Listen to it and see what you think.
Listen
Thanks, and have a very happy Fourth of July.
— Garrison Keillor
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Past Articles
Phil Keillor Benefit for the Tenney Park Shelter (04/17/09)
Bill Holm, 1943–2009 (02/26/09)
Happy New Year, Friends (12/29/08)
Talk of the Stacks (11/17/08)
What Makes St. Paul So Great? (09/03/08)
GK On Historic Preservation (10/05/07)
Welcome to St. Paul (09/23/06)
"Homegrown Democrat," Chapters 1-4 (08/10/04)
Sing the National Anthem—and Try it in the Key of G (07/02/04)
Holiday Greetings from Garrison Keillor (12/23/03)
Remembering Plimpton (10/01/03)
Crankiness in Decline, Says the Old Guy (04/19/02)
A Governor Works in Mysterious Ways (10/19/01)
In Praise of Laziness (09/10/01)
I Just Needed a Valve Job (09/13/01)
A Eulogy for Chet Atkins (07/03/01)
A Foot Soldier in God's Floating Orchestra (04/01)
Exile on Main Street (10/02/00)
Walking Down the Canyon (07/31/00)
The Mysteries of Prom Night (05/15/00)
How I Write (12/04/99)
The Christmas of the Great Flu (12/99)
Let Jesse Be Jesse (10/10/99)
The Rice, the Bat, the Baby (09/06/99)
Faith at the Speed of Life (06/14/99)
The Republicans Were Right, But (02/15/99)
Minnesota's Excellent Ventura (11/16/98)
The Dangers of Christmas (04/06/98)
Gasgate (11/10/97)
Talk Radio (10/97)
The Seven Principles of a Successful Christmas (09/08/97)
The Seven Deadly Sins—Envy (04/97)
You Say Potato (04/04/96)
The Poetry Judge (02/96)
With All the Trimmings (11/27/95)
In Autumn We Get Older (11/06/95)
Minnesota's Sensible Plan (09/11/95)
The Art of the Embrace (02/95)
The Voters are Angry (08/94)
Word Play (05/18/90)
We Are Still Married (12/18/89)
Elevator Tales
A Graduation Speech
On July 4th, help us celebrate the 35th Anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion and the Fourth of July with a free live nationally broadcast show from Avon, MN.
From Garrison Keillor:
“When I was 16, Helen Fleischman assigned me to memorize Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 29, ‘When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state’ for English class, and fifty years later, that poem is still in my head. Algebra got washed away, and geometry and most of biology, but those lines about the redemptive power of love in the face of shame are still here behind my eyeballs, more permanent than my own teeth. The sonnet is a durable good. These 77 of mine include sonnets of praise, some erotic, some lamentations, some street sonnets and a 12-sonnet cycle of months. If anything here offends, I beg your pardon, I come in peace, I depart in gratitude.”
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Robin & Linda Williams are among the most popular guest performers of A Prairie Home Companion (they also appeared in the movie, have performed as part of the The Hopeful Gospel Quartet, and made appearances as Marvin & Mavis Smiley). This CD features some of the duo's best harmonies from the show. Among the 12 tracks are familiar fan favorites, including "For Better or Worse", "Visions of Mother and Dad", "Tied Down, Home Free" and the title track. A collection that is muy bueno!
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