I was born in Baltimore just a few miles from where Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Baltimore and then wrote a song about it. It’s a good song as songs go, but nobody seems to understand it nowadays. Nobody seems to be able to sing it correctly, either. For a time, some football players and other athletes “took a knee” when the anthem was played to signify that they are displeased with certain things in our country; that is their right, but I thought I could come up with a better solution.

So I’m weighing in on this whole national anthem thing. I think it’s time for some changes. First, I’d like to see a new song that more accurately reflects the true spirit of all Americans. A song from 200 years ago just doesn’t cut it anymore. I am reminded of some of my Sons of Confederate Veterans friends who insist on holding on to the battle flag. One camp I know of has publicly renounced the actions of the Virginia Flaggers while others are still supporting them.

I am a follower of Father Abram Ryan on this matter. Father Ryan was the Catholic chaplain for the Confederate army. At that time there weren’t a whole lot of Catholics in the South. So during the war, Father Ryan ministered mostly to captured Union troops of Irish background. Ryan lived for a time in Norfolk, and there is a plaque on Tidewater Drive to acknowledge that. Just after the war, he wrote a poem called “The Conquered Banner.” Basically, he was telling everyone to put the flag away, to move on and to try to heal all the wounds and wrongs of the war. He is largely ignored by most Lost Causers, or they try to interpret his words to fit their own twisted agenda.

Here is the last stanza of that poem. If you care to, you can look up the rest.

Furl that banner, softly, slowly!

Treat it gently — it is holy —

For it droops above the dead.

Touch it not — unfold it never,

Let it droop there, furled forever,

For its people’s hopes are dead!

This poem is also old and outdated, but if the advice given in it back then had been followed, we might be in a better place now.

I’m not naive. I realize Colin Kaepernick has issues not with the flag or the song but with everything they represent. But I think a new, more modern song would be a step in the right direction. There are those who would condemn my thoughts, saying that the flag and the song are sacred. That’s simply not true, and as a Christian I feel I have to point out that nothing of this Earth is sacred. The Earth itself is just a material object made of smaller material objects. It’s all about symbolism. Anything can mean anything if people agree on its symbolic value.

The new song that I am formally endorsing is “Invincible” by Pat Benatar. The song was used as the theme for an obscure 1985 film called “The Legend of Billie Jean.” It tells the story of a young woman’s fight against persecution and oppression. She wins out in the end and starts a revolution in her little Texas town that spreads all across the country. It’s not a revolution of violence but a revolution of mind and heart.

As I said before, it’s a step in the right direction. I realize it was just a fictional story, but maybe that’s what we need in this country: a change of heart and mind. We don’t need more rules and oppression. You can’t force people to be more kind and compassionate. All that has to come from within. Or from above, if that is your personal belief. I used to sail on a U.S. naval ship named Invincible, and not a day went by on her that I didn’t think of the song and what it meant to me. On the plus side, this new song still has all those really hard to reach high notes at the end.

So, stand up and face the enemy — we will be “Invincible.”

Bill Huber is a freelance writer; his email is williamhuber777@gmail.com.