When I was in high school, a friend and I co-wrote a parody of the Star Spangled Banner: "Oh, hey, can you breath/ all that smog in the air? Though unfit to inhale, through our lungs, it is streaming..."
That's about as far as we ever got.
I always liked the National Anthem because it's everything our national anthem should be. It is about the little guy (us) standing strong against the big bullies of this world. "America the Beautiful," is ok as a patriotic song, I guess. But the people who would make that our national anthem are the same people who are making it less beautiful. "God Bless America" is one that many people prefer, but, like "America the Beautiful," it's lyrics seem more ironic than truthful these days.
Last night, at the graduation ceremonies of the high school where I teach, one young lady was brought up to sing Our National Anthem. She had a lovely voice, but sang it with Mariah Carey-esque stylings that made it sound more like a song about making love than about holding on to courage during a time where the next mortar shell could take out you and your platoon. She crooned and warbled and writhed with her silky vocal calisthenics, seducing whoops and hollers from several members of the audience.
But the song is about bombs bursting in air, not fucking.
Ok, there might be a Freudian metaphor here-but the intent is certainly not sexual.
I guess we could blame Ray Charles for singing his famous rendition of "America the Beautiful." But that, in its time, was considered pretty radical by many. What Ray did was take a famous standard and re-invent it for the worker, who, getting home from the job, popped open a beer, sat down in the proverbial favorite chair, and reflected on love for this country. Also, it's a different song.
Or maybe we could blame Whitney Houston. She did sing that one version of the National Anthem at a Super Bowl or something. But it was jazzy and classy. She may not be jazzy and classy anymore, but that version of the National Anthem was. And, while she reshaped it for a new age, she didn't sex it up.
So, for all of you would-be and actual pop stars out there, the singing has to reflect what the song is about. It's not just about the singer.
9 comments:
Hallelujah, Brother!
Nice piece of writng here.
It's one of my BIG pet peeves that singers these days will sing the holy hell out of that song. It's always a treat to hear someone sing it, just sing it, and not throw in all the bullshit turns and trills and not sing O'er the land of the free-EEEEEEE, taking it up to that high note that wasn' there in the first place. I'm sick to death of that crap. Throw in electronic pitch correction and you've really got an abomination.
I think most singers these days don't know how to sing. They only know how to copy Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, both of whom I think should be thrown under a bus.
Jeezus, take some lessons.
Blame it on Star Search.
Personally I like intent over vocal gymnastics, especially with traditional songs.
But that's just me.
I agree with you.
Star search! ME TOO! That changed everything. Now all the girls sing like a cat being killed. "Intent over vocal gymnastics". Yep, that's it.
I agree with Mr. Teacher's comment about Alex. You have to give her credit for just getting up there. But I disagree about the song being dull when it's sung staright. I've heard singers who can sing it a capella straight and bring people to their knees.
Our other female vocalist, Amber, sings like that. She grew up on that kind of singing. Every song she does with the band is presented that way, even when it's not appropriate to the song. She can't sing it any other way. She's balls to the wall on EVERYTHING.
I think these days kids don't get much vocal training. That's what I've seen in the middle schools and high schools I've been involved with. It's a shame because I think they're getting ripped off. Choir has been dumbed down. Amber was in choir in high school and she never got any vocal training and she didn't learn to read music.
I wish kids today could have the kind of choir experience I had. There was a striving for excellence that doesn't seem to be present in school choirs today. We learned to read music and we got a lot of vocal training. We even got some music history and appreciation.
Anyway, John, I think that's what Jeff is talking about. If you reply to this, be nice, ok?
I sing Star Spangled Banner occasionally as a test song.
Like... am I smoking too much? Getting too old?
I prefer it more on the "straight up, no chaser" side than as a gymnastics exhibition, but as long as it's not on the level of the Rosanne Barr travesty, I can take it.
And even without extraneous warbles the thing is hard to sing. It wanders in two different octaves while the melodies to most "popular" music will fit in a 5th.
Interesting post anyways. It's getting to be more and more a good sign when the ol' aggregator tells me there's a new Uke Millenium.
HH
I didn't think anyone would get their banner in a bunch when they read my original post. I think UF is reading a lot more negativity regarding the singer than was actually there.
The student was in my class for two years. I never knew she sang either.
But, as far as style matching subtance, she didn't own the song. She did sing it, but she didn't own it.
As far as other ethnicities and/or musical styles, one must remember that the melody came from a british drinking song.
I don't think you read the whole post carefully. Either that, or you were just defending a former student against an imagined attack.
The bottom line is "de gustibus," ya know?
Keep in mind, I keep things pretty anonymous on this blog. Also, the chances of the singer ever reading this are slim. The person naming names is you.
Sometimes you take, or make, things more personal than they are.
And, while I too love this song, I do think the lyrics are more ironic than truthful these days.
Thank god!
Wouldn't it be nice if we could just all get along?
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