A New National Anthem

Late on the 4^th of July, I couldn’t go to bed before rocking out to the most patriotic song that I know: “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus. After sharing it on Facebook, Jared suggested making the song our National Anthem. In my post-BBQ haze, I thought I had never heard a finer idea. “The Star Spangled Banner” is not only passé, but gives the impression that we are warmongers – which, although true, is not something for which we should strive. On the other hand, “Party in the USA” mentions important American cultural icons like the Hollywood sign, Britney Spears, Nashville, LAX airport, Jay-Z, the quest for fame, and, of course, partying.

I actually took the initiative and made an honest-to-gosh petition to convince the U.S. Congress to make the switch. When I checked it again the next day, I was surprised to see a number of people had signed it. We’re up to 30 now. I’m not sure whether that’s enough to make Congress reconsidered such a longstanding tradition, especially given the fact that half of the signatures came from people outside of the United States (shout out to the Miley fans in Australia, India, the UK, France, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, Andorra, Hong Kong, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Serbia, Montenegro, and Poland).

But maybe with your help we can get enough signatures. Sign it! Preferably, let’s get this done before the Olympics. How great would it be to see our athletes on the podium shaking their butts to something poppy rather than pretending to mouth the words to a depressing song like “The Star Spangled Banner”? I mean, “Party in the USA” even has some obvious dance steps included in the lyrics like “throwing [one’s] hands up”, “nodding [one’s head like yeah”, and “moving [one’s] hips like yeah”.