I can’t argue the point. For whatever reason - age, the weather, etc. - that performance was not her best by a margin.
**OneCentStamp **- exactly
**rolandgunslinger **- oh, ouch. Yep, there are some artists that you just can’t mess with. I refer to them as **physical laws **- to a large a swath of the population, the artist is objectively, not merely subjectively, a genius. Sometimes I agree - as with Miss 'Ree, the Queen of Soul, even if this performance fell short; anyone who can sub for Pavarotti and nail Nessun Dorma AND have her, um, *body *of work, to me, is just objectively brilliant (yes, I know, YMMV).
But what *was *the point, then? To evoke King’s speech? To bring Black culture to an inauguration? That didn’t work for me, 'cause I was too distracted thinking, “WTF?” It wasn’t until this thread that I got what she may have been trying to accomplish.
Just like other art, music is a conversation between the artist and the audience. If I don’t know that elephant dung is sacred, all I see is a Virgin Mary made of shit, and our conversation won’t go well. If I can’t understand what you’re saying with your song (that the song itself doesn’t say), then you’ve failed as an artist to bring me the background I need to understand what’s going on.
Plus, y’know, just the tone/strength of voice thing.
It doesn’t diminish her prior work for me, but it just means that this performance didn’t work for me.
Aretha’s old, it’s OK if she sounds old. Tony Bennett sounds old, too. She’s Aretha. She’s still powerful. She’s an icon. Geez, she’s from the days of segregated diners.
If Ella Fitzgerald was still alive, she would’ve been a great choice, too.
And I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but those trumpets and buglers sounded very off - I imagine the cold weather made it impossible to play correctly.
YoYo Ma still rocked the party. I loves me some YoYo Ma.
Oh, yeah. I loved that piece. (Didja notice it was an all minority band? A woman, a Jew, an Asian and a Black dude.) I told my husband, “You know, say what you will about John “If he’s popular he must be crap” Williams…the man knows how to pluck at my limbic system.”
Ok I should clarify: melisma added as “flourishes” by singers to songs where it isn’t part of the melody sucks. If a song is written where the melody goes like that, it can be good. Your example is one of them. But in those cases, careful attention was paid when the song was written to what notes were to be sung, not just some singer’s noodling around with what they thought might sound good.
I hated Archuleta last season because he added the same melisma phrases to every single song and so he essentially turned the melody of each song into the same melody week after week. He destroyed “Imagine” to the point where I wanted to hit him, for one thing. But listening to him sing, I could pretty accurately predict what his voice would do next when he launched into his vomitous melisma stuff because it was Always. the. Same. and it was also completely uninspired and never added anything to the song that was written, it only took away from any beauty the song already had.
I love that interview. She admits that she thinks Barack is a miracle worker. Comes right out and states it. I don’t see too many people being that blunt about it.
She’s the Queen, she can be comfortable with whatever she wants - or, at least, that is how she comports herself, and I happen to think the world is a better place because of it. It’s like that kerfuffle that happened when Beyonce referred to Tina Turner, out of deeply deserved respect, as “Queen” of something - her heart, rock music - something. Well, Aretha took exception - I remember starting a thread about it. I mean - Aretha’s the Queen, so there is no other - right? Or at least, that’s how Aretha stated it…hilarious.
“And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness.”
“And he sang to them, he opened his mouth, you know, and belted it out, yes, he really let his feelings flow and he sang now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, and he mixed the words together, didn’t matter if anyone could understand what he was saying, he sang in the tongue of the Rohirrim, too, and even few words in the language of the Haradrim, until their hearts, not their real hearts, you know, but their emotional and spiritual hearts, their real hearts kept pumping in the ordinary way but the singer wounded them with sweet words, lovely words, pretty words, sentimental words, and their hearts (not their physical hearts, remember) they overflowed, not with blood of course, but with feelings: sadness and joy and hope and a lot of other stuff and their joy was like swords or bullets or rockets that glared red, and they passed in thought out to regions all over this great land of ours, where we sojourn under god’s blessings and his care because we’re special, especially now, where pain and delight flow together which is kinky almost and tears are the very wine of blessedness or white grape juice if you can’t drink alcohol.”
I agree that Aretha Franklin’s screeching on Tuesday was embarrassingly bad. Felt sorry for Obama, who had to keep a smile on his face no matter what. I can only imagine the horror he was feeling.
I honestly could not even tell what song it was, and I have a hunch this could very well be what caused the fiasco involving the giving of the oath.
As a veteran of a jr high and high school marching band member, it’s harder than all get out to keep anything in tune when the weather gets cold. I’m impressed that the quartet was able to sound so good when it was glacially cold. How in the world do you keep instruments like that happy, esp. an old violin?
And it’s also hard to sing when you’re freezing your bits off too :eek:
In fact, the version of the strings that we heard was pre-recorded. It had to be. They simply will not stay in tune during the cold. The musicians were actually playing in sync, but only those around them could hear them.
Aretha Franklin is an American institution unto herself. In her glory days, nobody did melisma better. For all I know, she may have initiated that style. We’ve mentioned her age, the freezing temps, the difficulty in applying her style to the particular song. It’s possible that she may also have been overcome with the depth of her own feelings too. She had to have been thinking of another time that a million people gathered with their focus on the Lincoln Memorial that she could see straight from the steps of the Capitol. I couldn’t have done anything but stood there and wept.
Mariemarie, your post from Dr. King’s speech took my breath away. I had forgotten about the reference to [ii]My Country 'Tis of Thee**. But I can hear the cadence of his voice in my head as I type. Thank you so much for adding that to my memories of the Inaugeration.
She didn’t sing it well, but I wouldn’t have have had anyone else in her place with any other incredible hat on.
Actually, it’s about all of us. Did you think that this new Unity was just for you? That’s a good way to get gang-hugged right here at the Dope. Awe, come on…
It’s like that kerfuffle that happened when Beyonce referred to Tina Turner, out of deeply deserved respect, as “Queen” of something - her heart, rock music - something. Well, Aretha took exception - I remember starting a thread about it. I mean - Aretha’s the Queen, so there is no other - right? Or at least, that’s how Aretha stated it…hilarious.