O Say Can You Stop?
I spend every night at Dodger Stadium hosting Dodger Talk on KABC radio. That means that every night I'm treated to a different version of the National Anthem. I think I speak for the hundreds of millions of Americans who attend sporting events each year when I say to the performers...
The National Anthem is not a five-minute blues number.
It is not a Mariah Carey overwrought teen power ballad complete with runs and riffs and "yeahs" inserted in the middle. Whitney did it. You will never top it. Don't try.
The National Anthem is not a song that needs a "hook". Or your own "personal signature".
It is not a sultry torch song. Do not use it to impress the chicks. The Star Spangled Banner is not catnip for horny women.
It is not opera. If you need to wear a Viking helmet to get in the mood, rethink.
Nor is it the Grand Ole Opry. Does Yankee Stadium look like a barn dance to you?
Yo! The National Anthem is also not a hip-hop jam. Do not sample "Happy Together" in the middle of it. Do not shout out "Clap your hands, y'all!" when you're near the end.
It is not meant to be whistled, beat boxed, played on spoons, washboards, ukuleles, kazoos, or sung in Klingon.
The Rat Pack is dead. So should be all versions of the Star Spangled Banner that swing. Francis Scott Key did not envision finger popping and nowhere is the word "kookoo" in the lyrics.
And speaking of the lyrics - LEARN THEM. It's "perilous fight" not "perilous night", not "perilous flight", not "perilous twilights bursting in air".
The song has an actual melody. Just come close to it...even occasionally. That's all I ask.
And finally, stop Stop STOP STOP trying to hold the last few notes forever. You're not stirring. You're a car alarm that won't turn off.
The National Anthem is arguably one of the hardest songs to perform. But done well it's also one of the most powerful. Just sing the friggin' song.
And let us get on to "play ball!"
You can read more from Ken at kenlevine.blogspot.com
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I agree wholeheartedly. Yes, the Star Spangled Banner is difficult to sing, but it has a particular melody and long-established lyrics. Singers should do their best to sing the actual notes and the actual words. The song is about the United States of America - not the singer's ego. Jimi Hendrix's exciting instrumental rendition is an exception, for two reasons: He was a great musician who knew what he was doing and the song was not being presented so much as the national anthem as as the stepping off point for an improvisation at a music festival. We can agree that Aretha Franklin has a great history behind her - but her performance at yesterday's inauguration was too much her strutting her chops and too little a paean to the country.
I don't always agree with this blogger but he's 100% right on this one. American Idol has singlehandedly taught young singers to perform like they're dying or have a seizure. Nothing has hurt the art of song interpretation worse than that show. Jordin Sparks sang at the super bowl and barely a moment after we were reminded what a big sweet voice she has, she went into crazy land and completely screwed up the phrasing then she just flat out over sung the song. That adorable little girl who's been on Oprah who idolizes Celine Dion has an amazing voice but she performs in that utterly self indulgent fashion made famous by several divas who being adults and being established stars can pull it off. Even Jennifer Hudson who did an admirable job with the Dreamgirls belter song made famous by Jennifer Holiday just simply overdid it at times. There's no one out there who can do what Jennifer Holiday did - it was her song, her way...once in a lifetime. We're surrounded by imitators. But on point, the Anthem is a very challenging song to sing so singers everywhere, just sing it. Let the song tell it's story. Stop showing off. Remember when Cher shocked everyone at the super bowl and just nailed it?
Oops! Of Course I meant "piece" of music.
Right on Marvin Gaye. He rocked the joint at an NBA event. Worst, for her disrespecting our anthem -- Roseanne Barr. But that said, the French national anthem, La Marseillais, is one stirring peace of music.
The anthem is a dreadful song. A country's anthem should be one that everyone can sing with pride and enthusiasm and with a realistic hope of hitting all the notes. I'd chime in for "America the Beautiful" to replace it, except I think "My Country 'Tis of Thee" would be an even better choice.
i tend to agree with the tone of this article. to me, though, it's all in whether the performer appears to be truly stirred by the song or if she/he is simply doing the "look at me!! aren't i great?!" thing.
How will this help in changing that?
Our current national anthem is a bombastic piece of crap. "America the Beautiful" would be a more appropriate choice.
As for your complaints about the way the anthem is sung, I have seen a lot of similar articles. This is not a new idea.
1) the anthem should be replaced by American the Beautiful
2) that said, Marvin Gaye did the best slow groove version EVER of the Star Spangled Banner. It's the only variation from a straight up version of the song that I've ever heard that worked.
...except the purely instrumental Jimi Hendrix version.
You are SO absolutely right, Mr. Levine, about The Star Spangled Banner being sung properly. Can you imagine how the French might feel about a swing version of The Marseilles? Or the Britsh might feel about God Save the Queen in hip-hop? Shudder the thought.
Thank you!!!! I agree with gc2332 in that the song is completely out of place at sporting events and rodeos ("All you bareback riders, geeeeet ready!). But really, why insist on making us sit through the extended version where the melody and lyrics are completely forgotten? It's usually hideous (with an acknowledgement that Marvin Gaye was probably fabulous but then, there's only one Marvin Gaye) and it's complete torture.
I agree in principle, but you can not possibly include Jimi Hendrix's instrumental version, because that really does rock!
Agreed - 1,000%. But he didn't do that before a baseball game and, as in the case of Marvin Gaye, there's only one Hendrix.
As a musician, I'll take a good blues version of the SSB over a stale and ordinary version any day. The song is poor enough as it is for a national "anthem" (America the Beautiful is a far better song and way more deserving in my book). At least some people can actually make the SSB interesting, and not the same old boring versions you seem to enjoy. Marvin Gaye at the NBA All-Star Game...ama
LOL! Touche!
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