I feel a rant coming on… well, it actually started in my last post when I wrote about censorship and “political correctness” in music. Today’s topic is related, but then quite different.
As is the custom, I watched the Superbowl last night. And as is the custom, the Superbowl organizers chose to have a music “superstar” sing the National Anthem. In fact, Christine Aguilera sang both the Star Spangled Banner AND America the Beautiful… and she slaughtered them both! (Edit/Addition: I stand corrected… she did not sing America the Beautiful after all, it was Lea Michele and not too bad a job on it. Thanks to an early reader who pointed this out to me!).
Sure, she messed up the words to Star Spangled Banner – a bad faux pas, but she’s human. That’s not my gripe.
My issue is that her ‘rendtitions’ of these two traditional pieces of music, known and loved by all Americans, resembled very little the actual music as it was intended to be sung. The composers actually put all that musical notation on the page for a reason – this is their music and we have no right to change it to “make it our own”.
We encourage our citizens to be patriotic and “join in the singing of our national anthem” and then it is sung in a way that nobody could possibly sing along. Good grief!
It seems the “superstars” aren’t interested in “leading” an enthusiastic audience in the singing of the anthem – they want to put on a show… it’s all about them! I’d rather see a choir, or a group of school children, hired to do this service – it would be infinitely nicer and more respectful than what these so-called superstars manage each year. And if it must be a superstar (and why must it?) then they should be handed the music and the lyrics and told to sing it the way it was written.
There is a time and place for experimenting with artistic expression… but this ain’t it.
Actually, a girl named Lea Michele sang ‘America the Beautiful’. I don’t feel that Lea Michele ruined America the Beautiful, but I do agree with you on Christina Aguilera (she butchered the national anthem). I could barely recognize the song.
I stand corrected – I should have checked Youtube to refresh my memory. It was indeed Lea Michele, and “America the Beautiful” was not so bad.
Well said! I think it is extremely unpatriotic and disrespectful to citizens who cherish the importance of the the National Anthem for singers to butcher it and continually try to and make it “their own”. It’s not theirs alone. It belongs to everyone and should honour the country, the people and the composer who wrote it. Anyone who is going to sing it should be given a copy, told, “Learn the words. Learn the tune. Don’t screw up the words or the tune. If you can’t sing it like it was written, then let someone else sing it who can.” Simple enough.