British music producer Adam Kidron says he crafted a Spanish language version of the U.S. national anthem to inspire millions of Latin American immigrants to share in our devotion to our star-spangled banner.
More likely, Kidron and the various artists who
British music producer Adam Kidron says he crafted a Spanish language version of the U.S. national anthem to inspire millions of Latin American immigrants to share in our devotion to our star-spangled banner.
More likely, Kidron and the various artists who worked on the project were seeking another avenue to shape the political debate over immigration reform (and sell some records along the way).
The attempt appears to have backfired, as “Nuestro Himno” has been criticized by none other than President Bush, who speaks a fair amount of Spanish himself and who has been consistently sympathetic to a future role for illegal immigrants already in U.S.
The significant criticism since “Nuestro Himno” was released last week might not have been so strong if Kidron had attempted a literal translation of the original tribute to Old Glory. The U.S. Department of Education first commissioned a Spanish version of the song in 1919 called “La Bandera de Estrellas,” according to the Library of Congress. And the U.S. State Department lists three other Spanish versions as well, which are intended to help foreign dignitaries understand what is sung when the