[QUOTE=PunditLisa]
You know it’s a really difficult song to sing when Whitney Houston pre-records it. And Steve Perry, the golden throated singer formerly of Journey, who could reach notes only my dog could hear, said this when asked if he’d ever consider singing the anthem:
“Thanks for that but that song is really a serious, demanding song. Everyone plays around with the melody because the original melody, if sung as it was written, is demanding. They make it easy on themselves by changing it. If I ever do sing it, I would want to sing it with all it original melody and majesty that it deserves.”
Hell, if HE thinks it’s challenging, what chance do mere mortals have?
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It’s not THAT hard. Difficult for an untrained singer, but any trained vocalist worth his salt should be able to toss it off without too much trouble. It’s only an octave and a fifth. The only thing you need to watch out for is what key you’re doing it in.
What really makes it hard for the average Joe is that the average Joe has a range of about an octave and a fifth, so unless whoever’s playing/singing it does it in just the right key, Joe can’t quite get all the notes.
[QUOTE=jsgoddess]
To me, the national anthem at a sporting event is like praying the night away at a New Year’s party. It seems like an attempt to mash two things together that don’t belong.
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“You got your peanut butter in my Wankel rotary engine!”
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto]
BTW, several times in the Navy and once as a civilian I was obliged to show due respect to the Argentine national anthem.
That takes some doing - the thing is about 12 minutes long. So people who can’t be bothered to at least stand for ours get no sympathy from me.
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Luckily, when i don’t stand for the anthem, i’m not looking for anyone’s sympathy.
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki]
AIUI there’s a vocal, if smallish, group that still keeps pushing for God Bless America to replace The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem.
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Really? I can recall several efforts to have America the Beautiful replace The Star Spangled Banner, dating back at least to the 1960s, but I have never heard of an effort to use God Blrss America as the anthem.
[QUOTE=DMark]
…that has nothing to do with Obama from the other (closed) thread, so leave his story out.
Who decides when and if it is played? I mean, it seems to be played at some sporting events (but not all) and at some political events, but again, not all. Who exactly decides when and if the anthem should be played at an event?
If someone is not American, what are they supposed to do? I have a lot of European visitors and on the few, rare occasions that we are somewhere and they play the American National Anthem, they are more than uncomfortable about the process. Plus, without this getting into a side debate, most are not exactly thrilled with American policy - but then again, they are visiting here, so should they just stand up and be silent, or remain seated?
Taking the above example a step further, would you stand up for the German National Anthem if you were at a soccer match in Berlin?
I am not a big fan of overt patriotism. Don’t get me wrong - I have spent years in Europe defending America nonstop in heated conversations, but I am not a big fan of flag waving and patriotic symbols. Ages ago, I went to a Broadway show starring Mickey Rooney and he insisted that the National Anthem be played before the beginning of every performance. Almost half of the audience remained seated, and I was one of them. It just struck me as being in the wrong place, at the wrong time for reasons that had nothing to do with anything other than Mickey wanted it. Is there ever a time when the playing of the National Anthem is inappropriate or, perhaps better said, jingoistic?
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Put me in with the people who said “stand and be silent”. I was lucky enough to attend numerous events at the '96 Olympics which included situations where another national anthem was being played. I stood up and did not talk. If I can show a religious ceremony enough respect to stand, sit and kneel when prompted, then I can show various countries enough respect to stand and be quiet during their national anthems.
I have to be honest, I never really understood why people choose to sit as a form of protest. Seems just as pointless as those damn patriotic car magnets.
I have and would stand for any national anthems other than my own at public events.
Playing the national anthem at sporting events never bothered me because I know how excited we used to get as players while the song was performed. To me it was a better hype song than anything else I had on my discman. GBA during the 7th inning stretch annoys me to no end but I am usually in line to take a leak so whatever. I have yet to run across an event where the national anthem was played despite it seeming out of place or inappropriate.
Know what would make a great melody for a national anthem? The Maine Stein Song. A catchy tune that’s easy to sing. Just slow it down and get somebody to write some patriotic lyrics, and voila!
[QUOTE=tomndebb]
Really? I can recall several efforts to have America the Beautiful replace The Star Spangled Banner, dating back at least to the 1960s, but I have never heard of an effort to use God Blrss America as the anthem.
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Now that I think of it, you’re right. (So that was the bad taste in mouth when I woke up - my foot, again.)
AIUI there’s a vocal, if smallish, group that still keeps pushing for God Bless America to replace The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem. I remember hearing a lot growing up about how GBA was the better song for an anthem, because alone of all the well-known patriotic songs it didn’t celebrate war.
After all, violence never solved anything, and war is never the answer.
I can actually understand the reasoning, though I don’t agree with it. But I’d think Woodie Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land, and far less likely to raise hackles than GBA.
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I have always loved “America the Beautiful”, although it does have religious references. We’d have to remove the bit about pilgrim feet, though, it’s not the done thing anymore.
[QUOTE=featherlou]
You know what would make a good alternate Canadian anthem? The Rodeo Song. “Weeeeell it’s forty below and I don’t give a fuck…”
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I always thought that we’d have a great Canadian national anthem if they put words to the Hockey Night in Canada theme music.
[QUOTE=BobLibDem]
Let’s just commission Bob Dylan to write a new one. Key’s poetic skills were sub-mediocre and the tune is hard to sing and easy to mangle.
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The tune, BTW, was borrowed from a British upper-class drinking song.
[QUOTE=BobLibDem]
Let’s just commission Bob Dylan to write a new one. Key’s poetic skills were sub-mediocre and the tune is hard to sing and easy to mangle.
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Write a new one? We’ve got Rainy Day Women already!
[QUOTE=Hockey Monkey]
Yes, when there is a Canadian team visiting, the Canadian anthem is sung, then then ours. I stand and sing both. Both flags are present.
I echo the sentiment that it should be a played recording and not a performance.
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Well, the American anthem is more likely to be heard at a Canadian game than the Canadian anthem at a US game simply because of the fact that there’s 6 Canadian teams and 24 US teams in the NHL.
However, I cannot agree with the played recording at hockey, simply because it’s such a tradition, and cities have their own traditions (noise throughout the anthem in Chicago…well, now that people in Chicago can finally come back to the 'Hawks)..and subjectively, I love hearing Pittsburgh’s anthem singer (Jeff Jimmerson) sing, mostly because he’s not classically trained and it has such a nice sound.
The university band playing the national anthem and alma mater(along with a color guard) at a college football game is another wonderful tradition that I just wouldn’t want to see disappear.
My own reasons for treasuring the national anthem around would probably be considered too maudlin and idealistic to discuss around here, so I’ll just leave it at that.
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto]
Guthrie wrote that song as a reply to “God Bless America”, and it was political indeed - Guthrie was a Communist fellow-traveler. And as much as it is noncontroversial today, it would become very controversial if it were to become official.
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Damn right. If Woody were a true American, he’d have written
This land is made for Exxon, Microsoft and Haliburton.
It seems to get sung in schools all the time without controversy, so I don’t see why there would be any if it got adopted. Anyhow, Key was a lawyer and we forgive him that.
I’m for staying with the Star Spangled Banner myself.
Oh, and I stand and even sing for the National Anthem. I stand for foreign anthems. I even stay quiet for prayers and such, but I don’t bow my head.
[QUOTE=tomndebb]
This time, he stood with the crowd and roared out the anthem with everyone else, but after the first verse, he continued singing the second and started into the third.
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Isaac Asimov memorized all the verses specifically to out-patriot anyone calling him a Commie. He sang them all for us at the 1970 MITSFS picnic. He never mentioned ever getting beat up for it, though.
[QUOTE=Voyager]
It seems to get sung in schools all the time without controversy, so I don’t see why there would be any if it got adopted. Anyhow, Key was a lawyer and we forgive him that.
I’m for staying with the Star Spangled Banner myself.
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I favor staying with the current national anthem as well.
My point was that however much the song wasn’t controversial anymore (George H.W. Bush would play it at campaign events, which probably had Guthrie spinning in his grave) it would become very much so if it were given any stamp of officialdom.
Let’s just leave it in its place in culture and history, along with other gems like the Battle Hymn of the Republic that cannot really be listened to properly without an understanding of whole story behind the piece.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
…the comparatively obscure “This Is My Country” (lyrics at bottom of this page). That song is awesome! (I once sang it in a glee club.)
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that’s not that god damn song from the Chevrolet commercials, is it? If so, I can assure you that no sports fan ever wants to hear that thing again, since it’s played in damn near every commercial break. Ten years from now, the only things I’ll remember from this baseball season is that this is our country and there’s only one October.
Speaking of baseball, I remember hearing O Canada several times when the Expos came to town (it’s pretty much moot in the National League now, though) and I think they usually replaced the California flag with the Canadian for the series.
An aside- worst Anthem moment ever was when we went to see an A’s game a few years ago. We were half-asleep after a long BART ride and lethargically dragged our asses out of our chairs as the PA guy said, “And now, performing the national anthem… Huey Lewis and the News!” We got all excited, because even though they’re from around here, they don’t usually come perform the anthem at the ballpark. And they didn’t. They played a goddamn recording of the anthem- the one time in seventeen years of baseball I’ve ever seen that happen.
