'K, this probably isn’t pit-worthy, and I don’t really have the energy to muster up the kind of vocabulary you’d expect out of a pit thread, so I decided to unload here. Mods, do as you see fit.
I’m sitting at home watching the Cubbies’ first game back last night and they cut away to the beginning of the White sox - Yankees game. Not too unexpected when you consider that the Cubs and Sox flip flop on the same set of networks’ coverage, and its the first game the Yankees will be playing since Tuesday.
They start getting warmed up for the presentation of colors, ceremonial candle-lighting, moment of silence, and a variety of somber and respectful pregame tributes. Generally pretty moving stuff that I was glad to see. Then they step into the National Anthem.
Here’s where I get annoyed. I get annoyed at this particular topic fairly regularly, but it really bothered me last night. The woman singing was extremely talented. She is a tremendous singer with great range and power in her voice. The problem was with the way she sang the song.
It makes me angry when singers inflect their own “flavor” into the Anthem. When you’re chosen to sing this nation’s National Anthem its not your time to go out and make a statement, or to try and “spice it up”. Sing the fucking song the way its intended to be sung, respect the song as its composed.
I probably take the Anthem a little more seriously than most folks (before this week), and I can say certainly more seriously than my friends, and the dumb-asses who start hooting and hollaring at “…Bombs bursting in air”. I’m willing to forgive a bit of liberty taken at your run of the mill singing, but i feel at a high-profile performance and most emphatically at a deeply meaningful event such as last night you do NOT take your own creative license into the song.
I agree completely. When someone sings it like a top 40 hit–let’s see how many different notes I can stick in here!–it cheapens the song. This is our national anthem, not some schlock tune tossed off by some hack hit-factory worker. Show some restraint and respect, for God’s sake.
Personally I think the National Anthem is perfect for personal expression. Of course it can be sung disrespectfully (read: Roseanne barr). But actually appreciate it when singer imbue the song with their own flavor. I am not convinced there is a “right” way. I challenge you to listen to Marvin Gaye’s rendition at the '84 NBA All-Star game and not think it beautiful and highly moving and respectful. In America we celebrate individualism, beliefs and expression and I think when a singer does the National Anthem their way it is a perfect reflection of that. Ironically, it is that clebration of the Individual that, I believe unifies us.
Okay, just HOW did she spice it up? Overheld the notes? Slowed/speeded the tempo? Added trills, flourishes and cadenzas? Did a half-hour rendition á la ‘Bleeding Gums Whatshisname’ in “The Simpsons” (sorry, but I laughed my butt off at that segment - I know vocalists who would do that.)?
Please give us some perspective here for those of us who have not seen/heard it.
No, I never had a problem with people giving the Anthem some flair. What I REALLY REALLY hated was going to O’s games and listening to the whole stadium saying “O” really loud and nothing else. I used to change my trombone part all the time since after 10+ years of playing it at football games gets kinda boring. Nothing major now just little changed notes here and there.
I agree with Tretiak that it is possible to add emotion and flair to the Anthem without hacking it up. The problem is that the wannabe-Whitneys and mock Mariahs that have more technique then discretion far outnumber the Marvin Gayes of the world…
I was fortunate to attend a Red Sox game a few weeks ago where the Harvard chorus performed the Anthem beautifully and without overembellishment. It was the first time I can recall that the crowd was quiet until the song was finished, which was a very pleasant surprise.
Personally, I like the fact that we can sing our national anthem any way we see fit. It’s evidence of the freedoms we are allowed as citizens of this country. By no means should a singer make the Anthem sound like one of his/her popular hits (i.e. Cyndi Lauper on the Simpsons), but a little leeway should be allowed. I heard a rendition by a female country singer (whose name eludes me for the moment) that was absolutely soul-stirring. I prefer that to a note-for-note boring version of this wonderful song.
It annoys me also. I don’t mind if they have a little flair, but I hate it when they change the notes and tempo a lot.
One of my favorites was the Whitney Houston one during Super Bowl 25. She added her own style, but didn’t really change the tempo or add notes. I thought it was great.
I want to add that I don’t mind a bit of “flavor”–I agree that Marvin Gaye’s rendition was beautiful. What I’m talking about–and I hope what Omni was as well–is the Christina Aguilera-style coloratura that some singers seem to feel they have to stick into it to show how many notes they can hit. Not at all appropriate, and annoying as hell.
screech, I can’t say specifically because I have basically no knowledge of anything musical outside of “I like it” and “I don’t like it”, so the vocabulary is a bit beyond me.
As far as hearing the song, I would expect you’ll be hearing it played on various news channels and in MP3 form before long, ala Whitney at the Super Bowl. Granted this woman isn’t a mainstream celeb.
I did notice that she frequently changed the pace of the song, drawing out stanzas, A couple of times making it as if she broke up single lines into two. Such as:
The bombs bursting in air,
vs.
The bombs…,
bursting in air!
If you can gather my meaning via text.
Granted this was by no means a Carl Lewis, or Roseanne Barr version of the song, and I was happy to hear that she didn’t use the constant vibrato crutch that R&B and gospel singers are apt to do, but it wasn’t the “version” of the Star Spangled Banner I feel was called for in this time. Going out of ones way to personalize a song goes against the unity that these times have called for.
Now, I can respect and enjoy personalized versions of the song, hell I love Hendrix’s version, but I don;t think you choose to do that when people are on their feet, silently saluting the flag. In a concert, or on a stage be individual. At a public event the song doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to all of us and you’d better respect it.
I saw that on WGN last night, and I felt the same way. The woman has a beautiful voice, but she added too many “whoas” and “ohs” and “eee-yee-yees” to it. She seemed to sing God Bless America without adding any zip.
It’s just that, to me, you’re not supposed to be using it as your own personal showcase for creativity, like it were a Top 40 single. Certainly not at a solemn time such as this. You’re singing the National Anthem. Nothing wrong with adding some flair, but sing it respectfully.
What’s so terrible about people personalizing a song, any song? Why get hacked off because they sing it some way you don’t/wouldn’t/couldn’t? Songs are like poems… they have many interpretations and mean different things for different people. I don’t stress when I here someone do what is, IMO, a terrible rendition… there are so many more things that could hack me off on any given day, from the idiot drunk who is dating my gf’s mother, to the dumbass on TV with an agenda to segregate people even more and dice the population a little finer. People singing the SSB their own way is really, really low on my list…
BTW: Anyone ever hear Craig Shoemaker’s rendtition as the Lovemaster? Cracks me up everytime.
I love to hear the National Anthem personalized. It’s a very difficult song to sing, and I am impressed any time someone can make manage to make the words fresh and meaningful. The most beautiful version I ever heard was at a baseball game about 12 years ago. I’m almost certain that the performer was Quincy Jones. In any case, his very different, more soulful interpretation of the anthem has made me appreciate it more ever since.
I am going to agree with Omni, the national anthem should be sung without alot of flair at the games. I am sure the announcer said something like “Ladies and Gentlemen please stand and remove your hats and join name of singer in singing our national anthem”. At that point the person is not doing a solo, but are leading the fans in singing. I really dislike it when they hold a note forever or mess up the tempo, it throws off the choir=fans.
I hate it when singers go overboard also. I’m all for artistic licence, but this the National anthem. It’s meant to be sung by everyone, not just one pretentious soloist. I want to sing along, dammit.
That rang a bell until I heard it on her website. That was a good performance on Hill’s part, but it was ruined by the cheesy production music going on behind her. “SSB” as performed by the Academy Awards Orchestra. Ugh.
The one I heard was a female singer (Leann Rimes?), all by herself. No music whatsoever. And it was great.
And I don’t always hear the announcer say, “Join so-and-so in the singing…”. Some of the best performances are those in which the announcer states, “Please rise for the singing of…”, and the audience usually remains quiet, although some join in. The performance I describe above was one of these.
Because then I (like LunaSea!) can sing along (well, sort of - I change octaves for the high part, and you probably wouldn’t want to listen to me sing it by myself, but surrounded by 20 or 30 thousand other off key voices, I think I sound pretty good :D).
Think “Nick Rivers” (played by Bill Murray) from the OLD Saturday Night Live episodes, who used to mangle any hit song he sang. I agree with the OP, save the “shoo-be-doo-whaaas” for a top 40 song.
I’m almost certain it was Rimes at this point. Can anyone give me a link to a recording of one of her a capella performances? I can’t find one anywhere.
