The Song: Francis Scott Key's "Star-Spangled Banner" (1814)

For this July 4th week, Morgan and I wanted to do something special and tackle the Great American Heat Rock aka "The Star-Spangled Banner." As Oliver notes during the episode, this is both the oldest song that most Americans know (partly) by heart and the one that we'll hear the most versions of across our lifetimes. Some versions are transcendent. Some are historically groundbreaking. Some are by Fergie. Choose accordingly.

More about "The Star-Spangled Banner":

• The Anacreon Song
• Smithsonian's history of the anthem
• "The National Anthem Is Racist, and We Made a Video in Case You Forgot" (The Root)
• The story behind Whitney Houston's performance (Yahoo)
• "The players’ anthem: when Marvin Gaye sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the 1983 All-Star Game" (The Undefeated)

Show Tracklisting (all songs are renditions of The Star Spangled Banner unless indicated otherwise):

• The Anacreontic Song
• Lady Gaga
• Whitney Houston
• Whitney Houston: I Will Always Love You
• Whitney Houston
• Marvin Gaye
• Jose Feliciano
• Jimi Hendrix
• Mississippi Mass Choir
• Bleeding Gum Murphy from The Simpsons
• Daryl Coley: When Sunday Comes
• Fergie
• Kim Weston: Lift Every Voice and Sing
• Committed: Lift Every Voice and Sing
• Maze: Before I Let Go
• New Order: Bizarre Love Triangle 
• New Order: Blue Monday
• New Order: Bizarre Love Triangle
• Whitney Houston

If you're not already subscribed to Heat Rocks in Apple Podcasts, do it here!