When "Oh Say Can You See" Becomes "Oh Hey, Look At Me!"

So there I was....doing what I do every Sunday night during football season; watching Sunday Night Football. The pre game is finished, Faith Hill has done her "Waiting all week for Sunday night" thingy, and it is time for the National Anthem. This week was Kelly Rowland (formerly of Destiny's Child) and her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. The Marine Band (which is the standard for instrumental versions of the song) takes 73 seconds from beginning to end. This would lead me to believe that between 73 and 90 seconds vocally would be within the acceptable parameters of the song. But when "Oh say can you see" becomes "Oh hey, look at me!", bad things happen.

There have been a multitude of individuals that have taken creative license with the way that they present the National Anthem. Don't get me wrong, some of these come out awesome and are well known from then on. Take for instance Jimi Hendrix, or Marvin Gaye. These are incredible renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, and obviously...much creative license was taken here, but it worked. There are many excellent versions of this song....most of them are short and true to the original. But then there are....the other renditions.....

Do I need to remind anyone of July 26th, 1990...Jack Murphy Stadium?...One word...Roseanne! 
But is that all? I say nay nay! Check this one of Snookie...I mean, Christina Aguilera destroying the Anthem. Or one of my all time favorite train wrecks....Carl Lewis (runner, not singer). Poor Carl screws up..and then promises to make it up to the crowd...but falls short of doing that. This has to be the worst version of the song ever performed in public. But by far...the worst video to watch is R. Kelly. Did he pee on the stage when he was done? Well, not literally, no. Anyone who performs the National Anthem should not ask the crowd to "Come on y'all, clap". Nor should anyone...and I mean ANYONE be dancing during the singing of this song. Oh, and for Pete's sake...if you live here, you should know the lyrics...unlike this guy.

I could go on and on for days about the destruction of our Anthem by people who think that their runs and new vocal arrangements are just what we are looking for. But if you have ever been to a sporting event (yeah, I will even include NASCAR) you know that the National Anthem brings everyone...and I mean EVERYONE in the house to their feet. Their hats come off, and their hand goes to their heart. This is THE song of patriotism in this country. Stop....PLEASE stop playing with it. Sing the song, sing it with pride, sing it with feeling, but for all that is good in this world....SING IT RIGHT!! Until next time....Stay Salty.

-Salty Dog