“You guys know your president, right?” she asked the crowd amid cheers (listen to it here. “You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain’t my president, he might be yours, he ain’t my president. You know that woman he had singing for him, singing my song – she’s gonna get her a-- whipped. The great Beyoncé … But I can’t stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol’ president day … singing my song that I’ve been singing forever.”
What on earth does Etta James mean by, “he ain’t my president, he might be yours, he ain’t my president”? Isn’t she a US citizen, born in the US? Does she just mean that she didn’t vote for him? Or has she abandoned her US citizenship?
Well, to be fair, that song is *her *signature song. It’s kinda like someone else getting tapped to sing I Left My Heart in San Francisco, but you hear Tony Bennett is available and willing…
Boy - that Beyonce, she does stir the pot, doesn’t she? First, calling Tina Turner a Queen and upsetting The Queen of Soul and now this.
But that’s not what happened. Beyonce was chosen to sing, and she chose “At Last” as the song. Etta wasn’t going to sing one way or the other because the choice wasn’t around who’d sing The Song best, but what song The Singer (in this case. Ms. Knowles) would belt out.
I saw Ms. James in Niagara Falls last year. Far from being ‘just barely’ alive, I found her fabulous. Funny and fun with the banter between songs. Sounds like she was just half-kidding around…expressing her envy that she didn’t get to sing.
And even if she does mean, ‘he aint my president’, she may have her own reasons for feeling that way.
I do remember reading a thread (not sure if it was here or elsewhere) where people were wondering why Etta James wasn’t singing “At Last” when she was alive and wasn’t this kind of a slap in the face? I was curious, too. Especially if she could sing well and all.
Then again, if Beyonce just chose the song of her own accord, that is different. Though I suppose she could’ve chosen a different song.
Yeah, it’s her signature song, and her version may be the best known, but Etta’s taking some liberty in saying it’s ‘her’ song. It had already been around for twenty years and recorded by a bunch of big name performers before she covered the song.
Yeah, that was my very ill-advised, ignorant and embarrassing thread. I blamed Obama for choosing Beyonce to sing the song before finding out the facts, that Beyonce had chosen the song herself.
I was a big Etta James fan, and I’ll always love that song when sung by her, but if she’s rejecting Obama as not being her president, well then, fuck her, the old bat. I may get ticked off at Obama every now and then, but by god I’m proud he’s my president! If it was a joke I’d sure like to know what was behind it.
No, it was just about the Inauguration Ball performance. I’m sure Etta felt very slighted that she wasn’t asked to sing it, and is possibly why she’s pissed at Obama as well*. Before that though, she seemed very happy with Beyoncé’s portrayal of her.
When I first heard about Beyoncé singing the song, I quite rightly assumed Etta would be hurt, which made me hurt for her, which is why I mistakenly lashed out, but I didn’t know she’d be such a bitch about it (“not my president” indeed). Now I feel totally sorry for Beyoncé, who must be crushed at Etta’s bitchiness, and Etta’s almost ruined the wonderful trailer of Wall-E for me.
