... Isn't there enough dissention in our country right now without bringing it to a place where we should be yakking about our cars?

If you don't care enough to bring up things that need to be changed, then you can be sure this country is going down the drain.

How would you like it if somebody embellished the corps' song like that?

It really irks me to hear people talking, using the cell phone,reaching for a beer, & doing things when the anthem is being sung. It used to be that people even inside the corridors would stop. It only takes a minute! About the only loyalty people have is to themselves or the Dollar bill.

Originally posted by: TomoHawk

(Almost) anything goes in here.

If you don't care enough to bring up things that need to be changed.....snip

It really irks me to hear people.....snip

Well since (almost) anything goes in here and because I care enough to bring it up......It really irks me to hear people name the race of a person they are talking about when they are supposedly complaining about song presentation!

Yeah, I had an example of a black lady murdering the national anthem, but I've also heard white people doing it- Usually country singers, I think.

Tom and Thomas agreed on something? Is this one of the "Signs" of the coming of the "End of Days"?

What an odd rant. Is there a proscribed way to sing the national anthem? Are there government dictated rules regarding meter, annunciation, beat, etc.? Of course not. Its a song, not a Gregorian Chant.

Sure, some people have wrecked it on purpose (Roseanne Barr is a perfect example) but they get bood and poeple laugh at them. Then they apologize.

I have Anaheim Angel season tickets and I hear all kinds of people sing the national anthem live 82 times each year. Some do it better then others. So what? Should I boo the kindergarden kids choir because the missed an entire stanza? Should I boo the jazz trumpeter who didn't even sing the words? Should I boo the south central gospel choir because they made the national anthem a happy, uplifting song with a lot of flourishes?

As I said, what an odd thing to get upset about.

People make a big thing about "patriotism" lately. I prefer to call it Nationalism, since that is what it really is. Any way... if you are a person with so much respect for your country, why dishonour the original songwriter by adding all those unnecesary flourishes & stuff?

It's just plain disrespectful to do it a little, and damn sacrilegious to do it a lot. An then there's Roseanne Barr...

It's called putting your soul into the music. If something means so much to you, why would you sing it vanilla with no emotion or feeling. Good singers are artists. You can't expect an artist to not put their emotions into their work.

OUR national anthem is NOT "art!" You DON"T need to artistify it. I suppose you want the President to do some break dancin' after he takes the Oath of office?

If you want to sing your heart out, then do it with feeling, not "art." If you want to sing loudy, then turn off the microphone...

Here's a solution to your problem.....it's called the "mute button". :tapemouth

Maybe we should go back to discussing when & why it's OK to break the speed limit...

OUR national anthem is NOT "art!" You DON"T need to artistify it. I suppose you want the President to do some break dancin' after he takes the Oath of office?

If you want to sing your heart out, then do it with feeling, not "art." If you want to sing loudy, then turn off the microphone...

Singing your heart out and doing it with feeling is art!

Yeah, I had an example of a black lady murdering the national anthem, but I've also heard white people doing it- Usually country singers, I think.

You do not have a clue to what moonpup was talking about do you.

I think it's more like the freedom of speech to complain bout something that's wrong to make improvements. That's how it works in a Democracy...

Actually freedom of speach does not define how a democracy functions. A dictatorship could have freedom of speach too, if it were allowed.

Any American who's travelled abroad and visited places where free speech was supressed would know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner by heart and would sing them with such a passion that no one could confuse it for bull$hit passing as "art".

Free speech is a privilege, not an entitlement, knowing the difference between the two and how they impact daily life as an American will make a world of difference in how one views what it means to be an American.

No dictatorship ever survived nor would it in a society that allowed a free press. The two mix like battery acid and a newborn.