So Michael Kinsley wants to replace "The Star-Spangled Banner" because it is unsingable for the average Karaoke singer and its words are "all about bombs and war and bloodshed -- and not in a good way" (www.sltrib.com, Opinion, June 13). I like the melody. That it's hard for many to sing seems somehow appropriate; after all, we have to stretch to achieve America's ideals. When I hear it played at the Olympics or when our president visits a foreign country, I like the dignity and history it conveys. The world knows the tune; it has a brand. Don't change it.

The lyric, however, is another matter. The world doesn't know the words, and few Americans know more than "Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light" and "'o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." Let's keep those well-known phrases, and change the other lines to better express what America's about. Have a competition, and select the three best verses, or some combination of them, for our anthem's words.

But keep that concluding question. It's good to regularly ask ourselves if our flag still flies over a country that is free.

Neil McCormick

Salt Lake City


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