The National Anthem You Love and Hate

One of my favorite moments in this sports' fan's life was the first time a World Series game was played in Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the underachieving Atlanta Braves in six games, but that is not why I am writing this article.

The great moment came when 50,000 people sang Canada's national anthem.  When I have taught children how to sing, the first thing I teach them is how to "sing on pitch".  The second is "sing out," so they can be heard.  The third is "sing together."  Without any practice they sang the greatest rendition of a National Anthem I have ever heard.  For one shining moment, like Michael J. Fox, they were proud to be Canadiens.

Such is not the case of "The Star-Spangled Banner:"  This is true for several reasons.

1. So what's the story?

I think it ought to the a requirement for anyone singing the National Anthem to at least know what war is about. If they don't know The War of 1812 they should be disqualified.

When Christina Aguilera sang the National Anthem she forgot the line, "O'er the ramparts we watched."  Maybe having an audience at least a billion people singing a song she had probably never sung before may have been overwhelming.

So what are "ramparts anyway?  A dictionary is not any help.  It defines "ramparts as a " parapet."  When I looked up "parapet," its definition was "ramparts."

I know what a parapet is from the opera Tosca.  In the opera bad guy baritone, Scarpia, has good guy tenor Cavarodossi, sentenced to be executed so he can have soprano, Tosca, to himself.  At the end of act two Tosca stabs and kills Scarpia.  In act three Cavaradossi is executed.  When Scarpia's henchmen catch up with Tosca, she is next to a balcony, or "paraphet," jumps off the paraphet, taking her own life, her last words being, "O Scarpia, a Dio," of "O Scarpia, to God (for judgment)!.

The actual poem was based on the defense of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore on September 14, 1814.  Frenes Scott Key watched the battle on the deck a boat at a distance.  So using the word "ramparts" was poetic license.  In the 21st Century of instant gratification about as many people appreciate poetic license as those who appreciate opera.

2.  Unsingable Music

When Key's poem was set to a 18th Century tune attributed to John Stafford Smith, it had a melody of a twelfth, or as it is usually published, B-flat below middle C  to F, or the top line of the treble clef.  Both, "O Canada" and America the Beautiful" have the range of an octave plus a half step, or a minor ninth.

The problem this creates is most people can carry a tune, but they sound good for about the range of a tenth, and a soprano's or tenor's tenth is higher than alto's or bass's tenth, thus making what I heard during the 1992 World Series practically as impossibility.

There are those who believe "America the Beautiful" should be our National Anthem.  I would disagree with them because "America the Beautiful" is about the country itself. where "The Star-Spangled Banner" is about our military, a military that has cost several million, 600,000 in the Civil War alone, soldiers to give their lives to make and keep the United States free.

3.  "Maah" Song

Something I have never understood about professional sporting events is why The Star-Spangled Banner is almost always sung acappella.  In high school and college it is almost always played by a band.

Almost everyone has a particular horror story of their of worst rendition of the National Anthem.  Mine was when I went to a hockey game where it was sung by a high school girl. Every time she took a breath, she continued in a different key.

I know this offends some people, but the Star-Spangled Banner is not jazz.  Its melody has 98 notes.  Why is it that many people who sing it insist on adding another 10, 20, 30...extra notes to make it "maah" song.  First of all it is not your song, it is the country's song.  Secondly, when it is proper to improvise there is a logic for improvisation.  Classical composers wrote melismas for a reason.  When Handel wrote "All We Like Sheep" he had a purpose in using  twenty-six notes on the word "turned" every one to his own way.

4.  Why Rock Singers

I was eight years old when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan's show thus cementing rock-and-roll as the accepted form of music in the English speaking world.  But it does not mean that we have to have a rock singer like Chrstina Aguilera who has probably never sung it alone in public sing it for an audience of at least a billion and embarrass herself?  Of course, she is not alone in this.

5.  Possible Suggestions for next year's Super Bowl.

I live in Indianapolis, about two miles from the Colts' training facility, so I would like to suggest a couple of alternatives for next year's Super Bowl.  Both of them have recorded the National Anthem and are from the area. Sandi Patty still has the great voice and can belt out the high notes with sensible improvisations to when those who would want to could sing it with her.  She already has a well-orchestrated accompaniment track.

The best acappella arrangement I know of was recorded by the Gaither Vocal Band in 1998.  Bill Gaither, over the years,. has surrounded himself some tremendously talented people like David Phelps, Guy Penrod, Michael English, et. al. Mark Lowry could liven up the pregame show. Both the Vocal Band and Sandi Patty would be a considerable improvement over almost anyone else.

In conclusion, The United States National Anthem is something every U. S. citizen can be proud to have.  But to take it to seriously only makes us look foolish.

Usually Bleacher Report articles have polls, but it seems fitting that readers could share their best and worst renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner.