An unfortunate side-effect of traditionally singing only the first verse of the U.S. National Anthem is that we’re forever ending our patriotic sing-along with an uncertain question.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Of course, if we ever bothered with the next 3 verses, we’d all know that in verse 2 we indeed discover the flag waving. In verse 3, it waves in triumph, and verse 4 declares in no uncertain terms that it will wave forever. Obviously that kind of closure was more what Francis Scott Key had in mind.