National Anthems

[dogriver]

So I'm listening to the hockey game a little bit last night. American National Anthem is sung. Someone tell me, please, I know I'm a Canadian so I may just not understand these things. Is the level of patriotism, for an American, determined by how many completely extra, unrelated, and unhelpful notes he or she throws into the Anthem when singing it? I understand embelishing a piece a little with trills and runs and so on, there's a place for that, but in my view it's gotten beyond ridiculous lately, the notes being added having no bearing on the rest of the song and seeming to give the impression that the singer is trying to "sound impressive", more than anything else. A bunch of my Canadian friends will tell me that I'm being anti-American, but that's not it at all, I just think some singers of your anthem are getting very full of themselves.

Comments

[shazza59.livejournal.com]

Well said, well said, well said! (sending a box of rich chocolates your way) :) Most times, whenever I hear the SSB on a sport event, I wind up yanking out tufts of my hair. Most people botch it. Two things drive me nuts! The excess notes and the fact that seemingly everybody, (except me), takes a huge breath after the word spangled in the line that goes, "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave". You are not supposed to do that according to my college choir director. I'm by no means a musician though I love to sing and do it well, but these people who take breaths in the middle of phrases just drive me nuts!

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

I feel the same about people who have to take a breath in the middle of the first line of Ave Maria. But the breath takers in the S.P.B. are usually doing it because they want to embelish "banner yet wave" with about a dozen unnecessary notes.

[supertrink.livejournal.com]

i hate that so much. but there was a great sketch on saturday night live once, where mya rudolph spoofed those people who sing it like that... she made the song like 10 minutes long and it was hilarious! i'll have to see if i can find it somewhere for you, you'll laugh!

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

Yes, that does sound amusing.

[quirkofonic.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's just the anthem, but it seems it's standard operating proceedure for any kind of pop singing, at least that which is contrived to be hit-oriented product, which is why my musical taste pretty much lives in the past. OK, I thought Aretha Franklin is a great singer, but so many singers seem to want to take her style, crank it up to ten and then triple that, adding extra notes here and curlycues there and all that. I'm not one who thinks a song should be sung completely by the book, but, dammit, there are limits.

[funblindsinger.livejournal.com]

I agree. Hugs!

[quirkofonic.livejournal.com]

BTW, I told my fiancee Sabrena about your LJ and she added you to her friendslist if that's cool. She's ginger_biscuit.

[masterofmusings.livejournal.com]

Perfectly cool. Take care.