More Singing of the Anthem

I guess there's been one of those periodic attempts to think about changing the National Anthem from The Star-Spangled Banner for any one of a number of reasons. Then last Sunday was a good op-ed piece in the Star-Tribune by Trudi Hahn Pickett. She writes:

What I'd really like to do is sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," preferably 1) in public, 2) with no microphones and 3) with a large group of fellow citizens.

Currently, this is next to impossible for an American adult.

She goes on to say that this has become impossible because there are always guest singers doing it for us.

Thanks, Trudi. The last time I went to a ballgame at the Metrodome it was Memorial Day. I was actually looking forward to singing the Anthem that afternoon, joining with the 20-30,000 others on a special day for our country. But I didn't get the chance. I don't remember who sang it or why. I was disappointed. That was part of the joy of the game- singing the Anthem at the start (along with Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the 7th inning stretch, but that's another story.)

Yes, I know that it has a militaristic side to it. Even as a pacifist I still know that we didn't get to be the nation we are without the unfortunate of war. As Francis Scott Key sat in Baltimore harbor watching Fort McHenry the very existence of the nation was in doubt. Would we survive? Could we survive? The symbol of our nation was still there in the morning. Yes, we can.

So I agree with Trudi. No it is not an "easy" song to sing, but that never stopped the crowds at those high school football games I used to help announce at. It is not meant to be a performance to move us. It is a community event to remind us of who we are and how we got to be where we are. It is the American Community joining our voiced together not for some celebrity or other to show us they can sing a capella and reach the high note without cracking.

Give me the crackling crowd, imperfect but trying, as we celebrate the United States.