Bar Scott

We all know "The Star-Spangled Banner" and have our own relationship with it depending on where we heard or sang it first, as well as all the ways we've heard it since. When the pianist Jay Hogan asked me to sing his new arrangement, I said yes, but also told him I wasn't the song's biggest fan. It's a hard one to sing, first of all, but it also puts bombs and rockets at the center of our national identity. My preference would have been to put our beauty, our generosity, and our big hearts in that space instead. But as I learned the song -- researched its history, read additional verses, and did the homework that goes into recording a song -- I came to respect it. Singing it this way has opened my eyes to its power.