The history of “definitive and artistic” versions of the national anthem at sporting events has a storied history. In this case, Marvin Gaye’s version at the 1983 NBA All Star Game - which is a truly amazing, artistic reinterpretation that set the tone for NBA All Star games as a key place for singers to put “their” stamp on a version of the anthem. Link here: Marvin Gaye sings American National Anthem - YouTube
So, Fergie is clearly thinking “Go Big or Go Home” …and misses. Her version has a simple beat track (kinda Marvin-ish, but not nearly as good) for the underlying music and she goes for an “interpretive” version - lots of stretching and complex-ifying phrases and really just overselling every aspect of the song. Her technique is fine - I didn’t find myself distracted by pitchiness or anything - but man, she just misses it here. She is doing the vocalist equivalent of an actor “chewing the scenery.”
Anyone else seen it? Her performance is getting trashed on YouTube from what I can see.
I find the tendency to sing it so slow to be annoying all on its own. I hadn’t noticed it before the Superbowl this year.
That version sounded like she was biting off more than she could handle, honestly–that she was trying to do vocal tricks she couldn’t actually pull off. And it’s apparently too slow for her to keep the phrasing.
Wow. That was pretty cringe-inducing. What do you mean by “not distracted by pitchiness”? I thought she sounded flat in spots, but maybe that’s just me - or maybe I’m misunderstanding what you meant.
The really sad thing is that even though I thought her rendition was awful, it was about 3000 times better than what I could ever produce. (Part of me would love to be forced to perform in identical circumstances, just in order to marvel at how cosmically bad it would be.)
I seriously wish singers would stop fucking with the National Anthem. I’d rather hear Roseanne sing it again than sit through yet another twenty-notes-per-syllable rendition.
She would stretch out how she would “get into” some of the notes - it was painful to watch, but with my limited listening, it sounded in tune…just painful on its own merit (IMHO).
The thing is, maybe if it was a good piece to begin with people wouldn’t feel compelled to put wildly interpreted spins on it. I give her props fro trying. Does anyone know if she made mistakes? That is, was the outcome different from what she intended?
The funniest thing about the video is the intro: “acclaimed singer-songwriter” (when did she become the next Joni Mitchell?) and “8 time Grammy winner” (thus proving how useless the Grammies are). I forgot where on the internet I read this, but it’s spot on: it sounds like Carol Channing’s first atttempt to sing gospel music.
Really you might as well have played this attempt at the anthem.
Holy crap. I hate patriotism and Marc Anthony just made me feel a little patriotic.
He do good job.
I think for a performance of the National Anthem as a ceremonial celebration during a formal public event, it makes no sense to do anything that gives a hint of the performer intentionally inserting his or her own self into the thing as the thing to be watched. They should be trying to disappear (or really, give the impression of such, since this is literally impossible, but such is the paradox of performance) behind the song. That doesn’t mean not interpreting it, rather, it means certain interpretations are out. “Sultry” would be really really hard to pull off under this stricture. Lookin’ at you Ferg.
Another detractor from stylized national anthem singing. It (the event, national pride, everything about the event that calls for national identity) has nothing to do with you as an individual unless you’re, like, George Washington or someone of similar stature in our folklore. Making it about you makes it a marketing gimmick for your brand, and I find that despicable.
As an aside, I’ve teared up twice during the anthem. Once was at a high school robotics meet when the singer was one of the participants. Performed like a random 10th grader, but she did it in the spirit and style of a random high school kid. As a small part of a much greater whole that depends on the small parts for its greatness. Like one of thousands of nondescript but necessary parts of a winning machine. The other was at a 4th of July fireworks display in our neighborhood. As with the rest of the nation, our 'hood is pretty deeply divided politically, and everyone was in attendance. The park played only the music, but by the end all in attendance were singing along. Gave me hope.
I’m very tempted to extrapolate on how Kapernick and others who take a knee during the anthem are expressing sorrow rather than disrespect, but that would be counter to the spirit of this thread.
What I will say is that I’ve seen Fergie’s rendition a few times now, and it’s simply not that bad. It’s not good by any means, but it’s not on the short list of “Star-Spangled Banner” renditions mangled by professional vocalists.
This does go to show what an…inappropriate national anthem the United States has. I’m a reasonably good singer, albeit without training, and I wouldn’t attempt the anthem in public. I can play it just fine, but it’s tough to sing well. An arduous compiler could easily put together a perfectly wretched series of clips with professional/semiprofessional singers doing a number on the US anthem. I doubt the same could be said for other national anthems.
The late Lewis Grizzard wrote an article on bad versions of the TSSB, and two that he threw shaded on were Billy Ray Cyrus (“I’d never heart anyone bump and grind to the national anthem before) and Johnny Paycheck (“He didn’t know the words or the tune.”)
Y’know, in the first two posts of this thread, you have Fergie’s version, then you have Marc Anthony’s version. Sort of unfair, talk about an uneven battle.
To her credit, at least she did not flat out forget the lyrics halfway through, as a number of other performers have. THAT is embarassing. This was just sort of awkward. My view is you can give it your personal imprint but a little goes a long way AND you have to be aware of the venue and audience.
I really don’t like it when performers “personalize” the National Anthem. Neither did my dad. When we both heard Roseanne Barr sing it, my dad, who was definitely not an activist, said "It would have been worth it to get arrested if I could have got onto the field and grabbed the mike, and said ‘Now let’s do it right!’ " I told him I would have run interference with the security guards.
I remember two performances that I truly enjoyed, that stand out in my memory.
One was by The Oak Ridge Boys, in the sixth game of the 1985 World Series. I was watching with my dad. Now, we’d heard of the group but I’d never seen them. When they came out we both thought “What’s going to happen?” Just a beautiful performance was all, four part harmony at a normal pace folks could sing along to.
The other was another World Series game, and singer Toni Tenille was the performer… Before she began she addressed the crowd “Won’t you all please join me in singing our National Anthem?” She sang it straight, no special flourishes. I’ll always remember her for that.
