The Star-Spangled Banner

[formerly33]

I thought this would be a pretty fitting subject after all the heated discussions I've been finding all over that magical thing we call the internet. Not that I want to discuss the actual controversy of whether or not the Twins players should all line up during the national anthem; if you want to talk about that, go to the thread called "Do the Minnesota Twins hate America, and do you care?" or PM me to find out what I think (I never did bother to say anything on that thread - which I guess is a pretty good indication of whether I care or not - fine, then, forget the PM). But this post is not going to be the place for such a controversial topic. I'm going to discuss a totally different aspect of the same song, one that I think has been neglected lately.

 

Let's go back in time to 1968. Forget the war, forget all the problems that were going on in America at that time. We're going to talk baseball. Remember that year's World Series? To be honest, it was nearly 30 years before I was born, but we'll ignore that little detail and focus on the fact that a lot of people do remember it. The Tigers were hosting the Cardinals, and José Feliciano, a young Puerto Rican singer who was just coming into his own at the time, was singing the national anthem at the beginning of game 5. He wanted to give a different rendition of the song than anyone else had ever heard before. He wanted everyone to stand up and listen with a newfound respect for the song. Instead, he was booed with great enthusiasm. There was an uproar all across the nation that took him years to live down. However, 42 years later, Feliciano sang The Star-Spangled Banner once more, this time before game 1 of the 2012 NLCS with the Giants hosting the Cardinals. He sang in the same, once infamous style that had shocked the audience of the late '60's, but this time the crowd went wild.

 

What happened? Well, to put it simply, people learned to appreciate his interpretation of The Star-Spangled Banner. In fact, everybody who sings it now tries to come up with their own, unique interpretation of the song; they want it to be different, bolder, and better than the last. But unless you're actually addicted to following the song as closely as you follow the scores, you're not going to notice anything different anymore. Every new rendition of the song sounds the same as the last. So why doesn't somebody do what's different, innovative, and fresh - why doesn't somebody sing a comeback interpretation - meaning, no interpretation at all? In this day in the age of The Star-Spangled Banner, it might be a good thing for somebody to sing our national anthem at its simplest and at its best. Sometimes people just have to realize that there can be grace in the very omission of grace notes.

 

So hopefully someday soon, in the playoffs perhaps, we will see that flag raised high at the twilight's last gleaming, bathed in the artificial lights of Target Field, and the last strains of, "Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" echoing across the field with an ingenious omission of any clever interpretation. Maybe the world would open its ears and notice something truly different this time. Maybe it would kick off the singer's career. Who knows? They say that stranger things have happened.

[gunnarthor]

Well, here's the link to him singing it in 1968.

 

[ashbury]

Reminded me of someone else, and I looked him up and found this clip:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqNXSWQR93s

[Craig Arko]

What I actually believe is a more fitting representation for the people of the United States, as inhabitants of a shared Earth.

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Game 1, 1998 WS, everybody is expecting the national anthem, and then this happens...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0GP_16JhVk

[Squirrel]

I actually think 'America, the Beautiful' makes a better anthem. Always have, probably always will.

 

And as I said in the other thread, I think the 'performances' of it should stop. They are either bad, overdone or 'out of character.' There is no need to trot someone out there before every single game, no matter what the event. And how many of you sing along, or try to? I usually do, or try to, but I'm usually the only one singing.

 

Do we need it at all before every game? That's another issue altogether.

[Bark's Lounge]

I have a new song that can be played before the games. It is quite patriotic.

 

Bark's National Anthem

 

America is nice

America is grand

Let's hit a ****ing baseball

and remember "Stan the Man".

 

Some of us like tobacco

Some of us like crack

Some of us like herbage

there is nothing wrong with that.

 

I like living here

It is a nice place to be

Better than Syria

Not better than the land of Honnah Lee.

 

Puff the magic dragon

Lived by the sea

He was a drug kingpin

and a peddler of porn.

 

Baseball is the best

Ted Williams was a beast

He sucked at raising kids

and he hid all of his defeats.

 

Babe Ruth took this game

Further than one could see

Many hot dogs and beer

and a lot of trashy dames.

 

Baseball in 'Sota'

The land of the two "K's"

Kirby and the Killer

Those times were not so lame.

 

What do we have now

Patiently waiting

We have something good

In America, the free.

[Craig Arko]

I have a new song that can be played before the games. It is quite patriotic.

 

Bark's National Anthem

 

America is nice

America is grand

Let's hit a ****ing baseball

and remember "Stan the Man".

 

Some of us like tobacco

Some of us like crack

Some of us like herbage

there is nothing wrong with that.

 

I like living here

It is a nice place to be

Better than Syria

Not better than the land of Honnah Lee.

 

******

 

What do we have now

Patiently waiting

We have something good

In America, the free.

If you like Piña Coladas,

And getting caught in the rain,

If you're not into yoga,

And you have half a brain...

[Bark's Lounge]

 

If you like Piña Coladas,
And getting caught in the rain,
If you're not into yoga,
And you have half a brain...

Yeah, that melody can work. I didn't build any a time changes into it. It's open.

[PseudoSABR]

Tradition doesn't become tradition because of its capacity to innovate, unfortunately.

[formerly33]

 

I have a new song that can be played before the games. It is quite patriotic.

 

Bark's National Anthem

 

America is nice

America is grand

Let's hit a ****ing baseball

and remember "Stan the Man".

 

Some of us like tobacco

Some of us like crack

Some of us like herbage

there is nothing wrong with that.

 

I like living here

It is a nice place to be

Better than Syria

Not better than the land of Honnah Lee.

 

Puff the magic dragon

Lived by the sea

He was a drug kingpin

and a peddler of porn.

 

Baseball is the best

Ted Williams was a beast

He sucked at raising kids

and he hid all of his defeats.

 

Babe Ruth took this game

Further than one could see

Many hot dogs and beer

and a lot of trashy dames.

 

Baseball in 'Sota'

The land of the two "K's"

Kirby and the Killer

Those times were not so lame.

 

What do we have now

Patiently waiting

We have something good

In America, the free.

I suppose you want me to write the music to this one?

[Bark's Lounge]

 

I suppose you want me to write the music to this one?

That would be fine, but it needs a 3/4 time signature, with the music containing a fusion of polka and prog rock.

[formerly33]

 

That would be fine, but it needs a 3/4 time signature, with the music containing a fusion of polka and prog rock.

Your word is my command - kind of like Riverbrian and your photoshopping art. I'll get to it one of these days.

[ashbury]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv5jLsLoYcE

[Craig Arko]

Runner-up for the Turkish national anthem.

 

[Bark's Lounge]

I'll throw one out there.

[ashbury]

I'll throw one out there.

Which country's national anthem is that? It's inspiring.

[Bark's Lounge]

 

Which country's national anthem is that? It's inspiring.

Tomainia.

[Craig Arko]

This sounds like it could be from Brigadoon or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

 

[ashbury]

This sounds like it could be from Brigadoon or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

There was some Waltzing Matilda there for a moment.

[Willihammer]

[Craig Arko]

We may have a winner.

 

[ashbury]

We may have a winner.

Wow. Good find.

[formerly33]

I am now officially qualified to sing The Star-Spangled Banner before game 7 of the next Twins World Series, whenever that is.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeD3kWQ4y18

[formerly33]

Here's another:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XffxvV1PAEI

[biggentleben]

I get frustrated when someone butchers the words, but more because usually they're in the midst of a 10-minute rendition of the song. I completely understand someone struggling with the song. It's a song that requires a ton of range, has unusual word placement in relation to notes at parts of the song, and you're in front of a crowd 100% focused on what you're doing. I can understand forgetting the words in that setting, but one way to make the song easier to remember? Sing it the way it's written...

 

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