Let's All Stand

On March 3, 1931 Herbert Hoover signed a law making the star Spangled Banner our national anthem. In a previous letter (I have an unexplainable aversion to using the word “posting”) I expressed dissatisfaction with that selection. 

I have no problem with the lyrics, written by Francis Scot Key on witnessing the action from a ship outside Baltimore’s Ft. McHenry in the War of 1812. While dated, they are a genuine piece of Americana. The melody is another matter. It’s taken from an English drinking song which I find strange inasmuch as a war with England was the setting for the lyrics. Borrowing melodies from the British is not without precedent. “My Country ‘tis of Thee” is a note for note replica of “God Save the Queen” or King as the case may be. To my musical palate “Dixie,” particularly at a slower tempo, is a more pleasing melody. Having won the Civil War, I wish the Union would have co-opted it as the spoils of victory.

But like it or not the “Star Spangled Banner” is our anthem and as such has been sung for years by groups of Americans in a sincere, although not always successful, attempt at unison. This has been a ritual at major athletic events, usually with a professional singer leading the audience.

This tradition was broken at the 1968 World Series when Jose Feliciano, a gifted musical performer, altered the melody, and has evolved to what we heard at this year’s Super Bowl. Here I draw the line! A national anthem is not meant to be a showcase for an individual singer, in which case it becomes impossible for the audience to participate. The great Irish tenor, John McCormack, recorded two choruses in just over two minutes, the time it took our most recent offender to sing one. Just singing the word “wave” took six seconds.

In my last letter I made the mistake of mentioning the Super Bowl culprit’s name, something I have resolved never to do again. Should circumstances cause me to break that resolution I promise to bend every effort not to spell the name correctly.