The National Anthem…

From the Mil-email that came over the transom last night…

“So, with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem at a sporting event: save the vocal gymnastics and the physical gyrations for your concerts. Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten — straight up, no styling. Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don’t make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification. Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love — not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from the costumes, the makeup and the entourages. Sing “The Star Spangled Banner” with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America , not you.”


If you agree, please pass this on. The entertainers need to get the message!

Comments

The National Anthem… — 18 Comments

  1. This is one of those where I have to say, “You get what you pay for.” You don’t hire those people and expect them not to do what they do. I’m not saying I like the product, but I don’t watch major sporting events anymore, either.

  2. have been saying something similar to that for a few years now.

    you know what i like to see? a kid singing the Anthem. they don’t embellish, they just sing it the way they’re supposed to sing it.

  3. WSF- Not that anything WE say will matter… but…

    Robert- True

    BP- 🙂

    Laura- Amen!!!!

    Fuzzy- Concur!

  4. I might get flamed, but music is interpretation! There is no way Randy Travis sings it like Whitney Houston, or Kelly Clarkson, or Steven Tyler.
    I only ask that they don’t forget the words or disrespect it.
    I’m sure if I was on a stage and performed it, you might not like my voice. But it ain’t about that is it? It is about my trying to be as patriotic as I can. Not for you, but for me.

    Sorry, I disagree, but music is art, not science.

  5. “art, not science”

    True. But that doesn’t mean you have to yodel the song, either.

    Yer supposed to be honoring your country and the Flag, not yourself.

  6. Thanks Mr.B!

    I bet you color inside the lines all the time! It is a song, and who is to say what in the hearts of the people singing it? I appreciate hearing different peoples take and style on the song. Not looking for trouble, know I would get flamed, but my opinion doesn’t change!
    Whitney Houston (RIP) made it her own, didn’t follow the song chords exactly. She made millions for the Red Cross. Who get’s to say?

  7. Color inside the lines? Me?

    Hah!

    I don’t even see the lines.

    Sorry, but you are wrong here.

    It is a thing called “good taste”

    She wants to go off the reservation and show her crooning talents on her own songs? More power to her.

    But this is not that sort of venue. It is not about her being able to yodel.

    And if you can’t see the difference, then you are a fool.

    I feel sorry for you.

  8. Good taste? Or Less Filling?

    Don’t call me a fool for having a differing opinion. Agree to disagree like a man and don’t name call like a Troll!!
    I served my country, I earned my opinion and state it openly and proudly.

  9. Hell, I’m rarely ever one to play peacemaker. . . I’m usually the one starting the brawl, but in this case. . .

    Danny and Mr. B are both right.

    I’ve been playing guitar since I was five years old. Started with classical, discovered electricity at age fourteen. It helped put me through college via studio work and bar bands, etc.

    I’ve heard Jimi Hendrix play the national anthem, Ted Nugent, Charlie Daniels, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many others.

    It all sounded different as the anthem meant something different to each of them.

    Does anyone here remember that Jimi Hendrix was once a young paratrooper with the 101st Airborne?

    I’d say he earned his interpretation of the national anthem. (Fact that he was stoned out of his afro’d gord most of the time on stage might also have had something to do with it.)

    Now Ted Nugent plays a wailing version, too. And he gives a boatload of money to Wounded Warrior and other groups, BoD of NRA, etc. (yeah yeah, I know all about his younger days when the draft was on–not the point)

    So, I see Danny’s point especially clear.

    At the same time, if/when we have performers who are using our national anthem to promote or put forward THEIR shills or gratify THEIR egos and the performance, whether vocal or physical (Roseanne Barr grabbing her crotch), then like Mr. B, I contend that is very wrong and totally inappropriate.

    However, I also feel it is JUST as wrong and inappropriate when the cameras pan the crowd and players and we see the plethora of jackoffs playing with themselves, their phones or they still have their hats on, no hand over their hearts, etc.

    THAT bothers me a helluva lot more than some primma donna performer hacking away.

    –AOA

  10. Danny:

    You want me to “play nice”

    Then don’t start shit.

    You started the kicking with your “color inside the lines” comment.

    And again, if you can’t see the difference between honest interpretation in the singing of the National Anthem, and some prima donna who uses the venue to demonstrate that she can hit the high notes while yodeling, without adding anything to the song, or who isn’t really sure of the the lyrics or what they mean, just to show off, then yes, sorry, but you are a fool.

    I am all for free expression, but there is a difference.

    Now stop being all butthurt just beacuse I called you a fool. Be a big boy.