"To Anacreon in Heaven" is the song of a London society that celebrated women, drinking and music. Here's a recording:
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<a href="https://youtu.be/3l-n64NWHS4">https://youtu.be/3l-n64NWHS4</a>;
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<a href="https://youtu.be/OqyQO3xhNx0">https://youtu.be/OqyQO3xhNx0</a>;
Here's the lyrics for the first verse:
To Anacreon, in Heav'n, where he sat in full glee, A few sons of harmony sent a petition, That he their inspirer and patron would be;
Translation: We, a group of people who love to sing, are asking a dead Greek man to become our god.
When this answer arrived from the jolly old Grecian -- Voice, fiddle and flute, no longer be mute.
Translation: The Greek man answered that we will never lack music.
I'll lend ye my name, and inspire you to boot, And, besides, I'll instruct you, like me, to entwine, The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine.
Translation: The Greek man will teach us how to have our way with women.
(The last line is repeated in every verse)
@Phil:
As tempus.edax.rerum pointed out, it simply means there was no regard at all for copyright at the time. No Article 13, no DMCA, etc. Let's remember that classical musicians borrowed from one another.
Of course, I find the fact that the American Anthem comes from a British song with sexual overtones incredibly amusing. But then again, my country's flag (Ecuador/Colombia/Venezuela share the same Yellow-Blue-Red flag) is very similar to the Russian flag, and some people say the flag creator, Francisco de Miranda, was probably thinking about a Russian lover (Catherine the Great) with Yellow hair, Blue eyes and Red lips when he created it. You never know where things actually come from...
Gotta love what the Library Of Congress has to say about this:
"There is little basis for the legend that the tune of our national anthem was an old English drinking song. On the other hand, there is strong evidence that the members of the club for which the music was originally composed, the Anacreontic Society, frequently lifted not only their voices but also their cups in song."
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200000017/
So... It's an old song, it's English, and it mentions drinking (see the Bacchus's vine line again), but it's totally NOT "an old English drinking song".
