The Star-Mangled Banner
As I am not a fan of any sport, I did not really watch much of the Super Bowl last night. I tuned in for a few minutes just before the half, just in time to tune out the black-eyed peas. The kick-off is what I always dread though. I don’t live in mortal dread of my team fumbling the ball, but I cringe at the notion that the diva-of-the-moment will mangle the Star Spangled Banner. The words “Star Spangled Banner” seem to confuse them. The star of the show is the banner; it is not a banner to headline a star.
They never miss. Or rather they never fail to miss a note, screech of key, wail the words instead of singing them, or forget the words entirely. According to reports, Christina Aguilera did not disappoint. She did, in her own words, do what many divas and musicians do: she “got caught up in the moment.” It’s happened to me; it happens to all of us with a song we particularly enjoy and the audience shares that enjoyment. We forget we’re supposed to be performing, putting our own emotions aside for the sake of the audience.
Aguilera accidentally changed the words in the song's fourth line, which reads as: “O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" Instead, she merged the lyrics with the song's second line, which she had just sang (“What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?”), belting out: “What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?”
If these rock n’roll divas would do a little less belting and a little more singing, they might just get the words right, instead of getting caught up in their own performances. The big mistake all these years has been turning the national anthem into a solo when it should be a chorus, with everyone singing it. Divas and divos make a hard song harder by adding more notes than it already which has (which is a lot of notes).
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of three British officers. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr. William Beanes. Beanes was a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland and had been captured by the British after he placed rowdy stragglers under citizen's arrest with a group of men. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop as they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of Sept. 13–14, 1814.
When the smoke cleared, Key was able to see an American flag still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” which he published in The Patriot on Sept. 20, 1814. He intended to fit the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's “To Anacreon in Heaven.” It has become better known as "The Star Spangled Banner". Under this name, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play it) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.
In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of “In God is our Trust” as the national motto. (“Let this be our motto, in God do we trust.” The United States adopted the motto “In God We Trust” by law in 1956. Perhaps the song needs a further Executive Order, requiring that the singer prove they know the words and can sing the tune before performing the National Anthem in public.
They never miss. Or rather they never fail to miss a note, screech of key, wail the words instead of singing them, or forget the words entirely. According to reports, Christina Aguilera did not disappoint. She did, in her own words, do what many divas and musicians do: she “got caught up in the moment.” It’s happened to me; it happens to all of us with a song we particularly enjoy and the audience shares that enjoyment. We forget we’re supposed to be performing, putting our own emotions aside for the sake of the audience.
Aguilera accidentally changed the words in the song's fourth line, which reads as: “O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?" Instead, she merged the lyrics with the song's second line, which she had just sang (“What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?”), belting out: “What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?”
If these rock n’roll divas would do a little less belting and a little more singing, they might just get the words right, instead of getting caught up in their own performances. The big mistake all these years has been turning the national anthem into a solo when it should be a chorus, with everyone singing it. Divas and divos make a hard song harder by adding more notes than it already which has (which is a lot of notes).
During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of three British officers. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr. William Beanes. Beanes was a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland and had been captured by the British after he placed rowdy stragglers under citizen's arrest with a group of men. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop as they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of Sept. 13–14, 1814.
When the smoke cleared, Key was able to see an American flag still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” which he published in The Patriot on Sept. 20, 1814. He intended to fit the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's “To Anacreon in Heaven.” It has become better known as "The Star Spangled Banner". Under this name, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play it) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.
In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of “In God is our Trust” as the national motto. (“Let this be our motto, in God do we trust.” The United States adopted the motto “In God We Trust” by law in 1956. Perhaps the song needs a further Executive Order, requiring that the singer prove they know the words and can sing the tune before performing the National Anthem in public.
posted by Belle | 6:16 PM
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