CHICAGO (AP) On Tuesday afternoon, the crowd at Wrigley Field will be asked to stand and ”gentlemen” reminded to remove their caps for the playing of ”The Star Spangled Banner.” Fans who can recite the words as easily as the alphabet will sing or listen to the story of a flag that continued to wave throughout one of the most famous battles in American history.
What they may not know is that Francis Scott Key, apparently better at lyrics than melody, put his description of the battle of Fort McHenry to an old English tune that had a lot less to do with patriotism than it did with booze and women.