Can we please non-ghettofy the National Anthem?

I blame Bleeding Gums Murphy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7xixfoG8Ag

I usually disagree with your posts, but I do agree with you on this topic.

Here here! I couldn't agree more.

Agree 100%. Just sing the damn song! Don't try to make it "yours". It is not.

This can be blamed entirely on Mariah Carey. Do not underestimate her influence on the generation of undereducated, Jerry Springer, American idol, Kim Kardasian worshiping Americans.

Mariah singlehandedly takes a song and makes it soley about Mariah. Look at Me....!!, 5000 notes changes per word, all slightly ghettofied.

She even calls her fans "sheep" no lie.

Exactly. The National Anthem should be sung loud, proud, and strong. Straightforward.

It has turned into an American Idol style attention seeking excercise.

And while were at it, can we ban loud slow bass heavy music at the junior high dances? Maybe I'm a little uptight but pre-teen kids simulating doggystyle on the dance floor is a little disconcerting. Ghettofying indeed.

[quote]XY wrote:

This can be blamed entirely on Mariah Carey. quote]

This is correct. From the New Yorker, circa 2006:

Melisma describes the act of taking one syllable of a lyric and stretching it over several notes—or, in Carey’s case, sometimes ten or twenty. “Vision of Love” is the Magna Carta of melisma. Whitney Houston popularized it, but Carey made melisma a required move for both R. & B. singers and contestants on “American Idol.” (Five years ago, before a concert in Peoria, Illinois, Beyoncé Knowles told me that she started doing vocal “runs” after hearing “Vision of Love.”)

The song is a florid composition that expresses the philosophy that Carey has disseminated profitably for sixteen years: love will triumph and everything will be all right. (As she puts it in the song: “I had a vision of love, and it was all that you turned out to be.”) It begins with several bars of lovely, wordless melisma, as if Carey were warming up, and it ends with two very loud passages of melisma, one of them an a-cappella expansion on the word “all” that can be roughly transcribed as: “ah-ha-uh-uh-oh-oo-oh-ooah-ha-uh-uh-oh-oo-oh-oo-ah-oh.”

Bros,

The star spangled banner was poem written to the tune of a British drinking song and wasn't even the National Anthem until 1931.

It's a patriotic song that should be expressed however a the individual performing it sees fit to express his or her patriotism.

y'all act like it's a sacred freakin' artifact.

As long as it's performed "respectfully," ain't no qualms here.

chillax, bros.

I wish you hoodlums would have some respect for the English language. Ghettofy isn't a word.

The english language is not dead. It is constantly changing to suit the needs of the society it serves. New words come into being all the time. Who are you to restrict how people express themselves?

You sir, are of questionable character. I will oppose you on all issues.

Colloquialize?

Our national anthem really sucks. It is too damn hard for an average person to sing even if they sing it straight - the vocal range is too wide.

When you get to the climax when everyone wants to show their patriotic fervor, nobody can hit the note. Compare to "Oh Canada" where the climax of the song is at a register everyone can sing.

Point is, Amerika be changin

Michael Vick given keys to Dallas

Kim K, Paris Hilton make porn video and are idolized by your daughters, etc, etc, etc...

This all will mean more power for the Right (politcal and religious). Get back to basic American values

thanks agip, I didn't know there was a word for 'singer's diarrhea'.

How about legislation to change the damn song? America the beautiful is far better anyway.

AS a side note, it's gotten to the point that the song means nothing anyway. Why athletic events? Why 2 songs? why do people hold their hand over their heart? Why do people start sitting cheering and screaming with a verse still left? Why do we srtand for America the beautiful at all these games now? Why remove our hats and hold our hands over our chests for america The Beautiful? why were soldiers saluting during America the Beautiful? Damn this is one confused country. Reminds of the Aussies that didn't know what to do in the 60's between Waltzing Matilda, God save the Queen and Advance Australia Fair.

Just eliminate it being played before sporting events. Problem solved.

XY wrote:

Do not underestimate her influence on the generation of undereducated, Jerry Springer, American idol, Kim Kardasian worshiping Americans.

Seriously, who the hell is Kim Kardashian and why is she popular? The only answer I ever get is that she was on some show about the Kardashians. Why did she have her own show? Why did anyone watch it?

I agree there are times such as formal occasions or state sponsored events when perhaps it should be done straight, but I feel there is no standard way it needs to be performed at sporting events and the like. Because of the large range of one and a half octaves notes makes it a very difficult song to sing and very few people would ever get it right technically if done the way it was written.

To deny artistic impression in a performance is completely counter to modern American popular music. If you want it done the same way every time means perhaps we should only allow classically trained musicians to perform it. While I enjoy the classical/standard version, you would have to be an extremely musically unappreciative person to not enjoy the Marvin Gaye, Destiny's Child or Grover Washington Jr's Alto Sax renditions among many others.

I love our national athem and I don't know if there is any country that is as attached to its national athem as we are. But, but it is not a perfert song, a better song could easily be produced. Our national athem wasn't written by Irving Berlin, the orgins of the lyrics and music is very common, we made it great by the symbolism we attach to it. And, as Americans, we are known for our creativity and innovation and it is reflected in how we do everything and why would anyone expect the way we perform our national anthem to be any different.

I strongly object to the "ghettofy" (code for: Black People) term that was used in describing certain renditions of the national anthem. American popular music has pretty much become the world standard in music style and is emulated in just about every culture. The rhythms and elongation of notes, etc., that you see in Rock, Jazz and Blues has its origins in the old Negro spirituals; the "ghettofy" (aka: Black People) have played a significant role in defining modern music.

Performing our national anthem is not the same as reading someone their Miranda rights, keep in mind...we are talking about 'a song'.