The Star Mangled Banter
5/20/2014
PattyKay Lilley
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to a subject very dear to the hearts of many
Americans, and would that were true for every American. A warm and wonderful
welcome as well to our assigned reader of all things NASCAR, performing his or
her labors in the bustling and busy city of Charlotte North Carolina, as Race Weeks
there are in full swing, with All-Star weekend behind us and Memorial Day
weekend just ahead. It's toward that upcoming Holiday that I'd like to turn
your eyes and give you a lead-in to what I hope will become a perennial article
on these pages, having everything to do with our flag, our country, our war
dead, our National Anthem and of course, NASCAR.
As the
title indicates, this column has to do with “The Star Spangled Banner”, as it
relates to NASCAR races. Over the years, I’ve received a myriad of emails from
fans concerned with the weekly presentations of our National Anthem at various
NASCAR tracks. Almost to a man, these fans feel that most, though thankfully
not all, of the presenters are at least disrespectful, if not downright
insulting in their “interpretive” offerings of this most revered piece of
American music.
Please
allow me to point out right up front that the choice of entertainers is not
made by NASCAR, but by the individual tracks. At every track, there is some PR
person or entertainment coordinator that is responsible for presenting talent
that reflects well upon the track, but obviously, some
of them are failing miserably unless the image they wish to present is one of
hostility and disregard for America. In a sport that purports to be so openly
patriotic and indeed has always been so, that is disgraceful beyond measure.
It's
become almost a game as we, the fans, watch and wait to see what travesty of
our Anthem will be perpetrated upon us in any given week. Sadly, we are seldom delighted
but often disappointed, as week after week, we are subjected to “Stars” that
seem incapable of presenting either the words or the tune or more often than
not, both.
When we
are speaking of the words and music that represent the very soul of our
country, it’s not enough to present some well-known name and assume that
everyone will be more than happy to hear whatever might escape his or her lips.
As long as this piece of music remains our National Anthem, no matter how
difficult it might be to perform, it should be delivered with respect, not
scorn. Gyrations, facial grimaces, vocal slides, improvisations and various
types of moaning and groaning in torch song fashion are not acceptable.
It's
difficult to choose an absolute best or worst from all we've heard over the
past 20 years or so, but allow me to share with you a couple of picks that come
close. Up 'til this year, my vote for the absolute worst went to a guitarist
named Joe Satriani, who slaughtered the Anthem at
Sonoma in 2003. I believe at the time my alter ego, the Lady in Black,
described him as appearing to strangle a live chicken on stage, with the
resulting sounds supposedly being the Star Spangled Banner. Oh yes, that was
horrid, but it was at least done by only one person who mercifully did not
attempt to sing. That performance was outdone earlier this year at Daytona when
a group called Madison Rising took the stage before the Nationwide
race and completely and totally disrespected and destroyed every word and every
note. These pages won't be trashed by giving you either of those
"performances" of our National Anthem. If you must listen, seek and
ye shall find.
As to
the absolute best, there have been many that have come close, and in the end
perhaps that's merely a matter of taste. Many loved Whitney Houston's Super
Bowl performance, but alas, I wasn't one of them. There is one though, that I
heard only once, again back in 2003, but this time at Pocono. The singer then
was Lt. Kevin Pierce of the Pennsylvania State Police, and with many thanks to
my dear friend and "adopted son" Darrell, I am now able to present to
you that young man on that day over a decade ago. Here, you will hear our
National Anthem done with heartfelt love and respect for God, flag and country.
That,
gentle readers, is an Anthem well done. Thank you one more time Lt. Pierce for
sharing your excellent talent with us on that day.
As I
said in the beginning, thank Heaven they are not all bad, but this old gal
fails to see the reason why even one of them should be bad. To the procurers of
talent at every track, please heed this simple suggestion. Audition! Do not
accept someone’s resume as a guarantee of a job well done, and don’t blithely
assume that if the price tag is high enough, the product must be worth it. It’s
just not so!
Some of
these entertainers are no doubt just fine in their own element, which would
more properly be the pop-rock concerts that have become a part of so many of
our prerace festivities. Their place, however, is not center stage,
purposefully destroying the words and tune of our country’s Anthem. If it can’t
be done right, it’s better not being done.
NASCAR
has always been the leading sport when it comes to good old-fashioned
patriotism, and has worn that banner proudly since its inception. How ironic is
it then, in a stadium full of flags and military presence, to hear some
caterwauling wannabe distorting the strains of “The Star Spangled Banner?”
Perhaps it’s time that NASCAR usurps the overseeing of the presentation, so
that it might be done right. Today’s NASCAR is quite obviously aimed at the
youth of America, and what better way to instruct our younger generations than
to teach them respect for all things American?
Now if I
might, for those of you that care, I’d like to offer a few words about the
Anthem itself. “The Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key, in
1814, as he watched Old Glory flying over Fort McHenry during the Battle of
Baltimore ( Sept. 13-14) in the War of 1812. By the way, we won the battle and
eventually the war against the British. (Much
more on that later this week)
Evidently,
back in those days, there wasn’t a plethora of songwriters in America, and it
was quite customary to set words to existing tunes. For this song, Key turned
to a tune he’d already written one set of lyrics for, and applied the new poem
to a ditty known in jolly old England as the “Anacreontic Song. (For the
purists out there, yes there is another spelling of the word. I simply chose the
one that is easiest to pronounce)
Oh my,
those sighs can be heard from where you are all the way to Georgia. Please stay
with me for just a bit. The Anacreontic Society was a Men’s Club in London,
taking its name from Anacreon, a Grecian lyric poet from the fifth century. It
seems that Anacreon was a frequent partaker of the fermented grape and the
Society really liked its wine as well, hence its name. The original words, as I
understand it, were written by Ralph Tomlinson, but the tune was a collective
effort of the entire society under the direction of a gentleman named John
Stafford Smith.
What
resulted was a textbook example of too many cooks spoiling the broth, as the
thing spans vocal ranges that few people can reach and incorporates enough key
changes to make good musicians weep. Just for fun, here are the words to the
first verse (there are many), though I must admit to having difficulty applying
them to the tune.
The
Anacreontic Song
To
Anacreon in Heaven
Where he
sat in full glee
A few
Sons of Harmony
Sent a
petition that he
Their
Inspirer and Patron would be;
When
this answer arrived
From the
jolly old Grecian:
“Voice,
Fiddle and Flute,
No
longer, be mute,
I’ll
lend you my name
And
inspire you to boot.
And
besides, I’ll instruct you,
Like me
to intwine (sic)
The
Myrtle of Venus
With
Bacchus’s Vine
Enough
of Anacreon; let’s move on to “The Star Spangled Banner.” Though written in
1814, the song was not adopted as our National Anthem until 1931 when it replaced
“America” (My Country 'Tis of Thee) in that capacity.
Although I think the words to America are more stirring, I’ve always wondered
how a country that fought two bloody wars against England for independence ever
came to adopt a National Anthem written to the tune of “God Save the Queen.”
So it is
that for over eighty years, we’ve been saddled with an English tavern tune as
our Anthem, which is almost impossible for the average Joe or Jane to sing. In
this scribe’s humble opinion, there are several songs more fitting and
certainly more tuneful than what we have presently.
The
oldest of those would be Katherine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful”, written
in 1913. Next on the list would be Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which
is certainly a worthy candidate for the honor. Last, but definitely not least
is Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” Any of those wonderfully patriotic
songs would beat the stuffing out of the one we have now, yet we cling for some
unknown reason to our impossible tavern song.
Well
gentle readers, much to your delight I’m sure, I’ve about run out of words for
today. Let me just say in closing, as long as “The Star Spangled Banner”
remains our National Anthem, it deserves and should get, all of the proper
respect that is due a symbol of America and Americans. It’s quite simple when
you think about it. Let’s teach our children that it’s wrong to burn the flag
and it’s wrong to trash the Anthem. Those simple things alone might go a long way
toward solving a lot of the problems of today.
And now
it's time for our Classic Country Closeout, which may be the only reason you
read this far, but I don't think you'll be disappointed. This one is from Red
(Foley) and Ernie (Tubb) and was one of the many
duets... most of them entirely tongue in cheek and hilarious... that the pair
recorded together in the era when television was still in its infancy. Please
enjoy "You're a Real Good Friend."
Bonus
song... because Ernest Tubb is on my mind. This was probably my favorite of
all that Ernest sang over his long career, so sit back and enjoy a very young
ET singing, "Let's Say Goodbye Like We Said
Hello." I apologize for the video being slightly off time with the music,
but the only other one by Ernest was done with someone's thoughts of what
pictures should accompany this great old song. I chose to look at Ernest
instead.
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay