Make Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man the music of the United States National Anthem

The music to our national anthem was written by John Stafford Smith for a gentlemen's club in London titled the Anacreontic Society. The original song, titled "To Anacreon in Heaven" became a popular drinking song in its day. Key's poem was then set to this music. In "The American Scholar," Emerson asserted the need to create a distinct American cultural identity. It is far time that our nation did exactly this, and, rather than continue to borrow the crude cultural traditions of upper-class English society, draw from our own national heritage. As such, I see no better replacement than the music of American composer Aaron Copland. Of his work, nothing speaks more to the nation's character and ideals than Fanfare for the Common Man.