Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

People are complicated. Love is not.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

This really is a full service blog.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Music / Happy July 4th!

Reader Interactions

66Comments

  1. 1.

    Yutsano

    I’m such a traditionalist when it comes to the anthem. Sing it with all your heart and all your soul, but dammit it’s an old drinking song there is no need to embellish it any further.

  3. 3.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Brad Hanon: I love me some Melissa Etheridge. That’s a great medley.

    @DougJ: My fave is the same as the one you posted here. I get goosebumps every time I hear Marvin Gaye sing the anthem–he set the bar very high.

  7. 7.

    Walker

    Wegmans did a last minute restock of pork shoulder yesterday, so my pork BBQ is well underway. I hit the 12 hour point at 5:30, so I just got finished with the early morning coal restocking/sopping the butts.

  9. 9.

    Resident Firebagger

    Too lazy to see if it might be on YT, but in the 1980s I briefly became a Chicago Blackhawks fan in part because of their national anthems. They were performed by a guy named Wayne Mesmer, who had a tremendous opera voice, but that was only part of it. The rest was the response from the crowd at old Chicago Stadium. They’d stand and scream through the entire thing, waving American flags and sparklers — the sparkler waving being about the one-millionth overlooked fire code violation in that cramped, dilapidated facility. As opposed to the enforced patriotism now seen during the seventh inning stretch at Yankees games, this was quite the fun, patriotic America-fuck-yeah type of spectacle. It was really cool.

  10. 10.

    PurpleGirl

    @Resident Firebagger: What happens during the seventh inning stretch at Yankees games, asks this NYC resident but non-fan. Is this an occasion for Steve Gilliard’s FTFY?

  13. 13.

    electricgrendel

    Jimi Hendrix’s version at the end of Woodstock. The sort of discordant, wandering interlude and almost at times almost unbearable nature of the version always seemed to capture some part of the American spirit that’s rarely shown in the anthem.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    @Resident Firebagger:

    There is a clip of Messmer from the 1991 NHL All-Star Game on YouTube.

    I dimly remember Roger Doucet, whose singing of “O Canada” before Montreal Canadiens games in the 1970s is justly legendary, having a good go at “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but I haven’t been able to find a clip anywhere.

  18. 18.

    burnspbesq

    Doucet made an album of all sorts of national anthems, including ours, which is available on iTunes.

  19. 19.

    Josie

    @Walker: I’m bugging you again about what you do with the pork shoulder. Not the whole recipe – just what steps you take. Do you smoke it? For how long? Do you use a sauce or marinade? Sweet or spicy? How is it served? My son does a righteous brisket, but I love pork and would love for him to experiment with it.

  20. 20.

    StonyPillow

    Jose Feliciano, October 7th, 1968 at the World Series.

    Happy Fourth. Proud to be an American citizen today, and every day. We’ve got a great country here. Sure it needs work, but don’t we all?

  21. 21.

    Kobie

    I once saw Gladys Knight (sans Pips) do the National Anthem at a Bills game, and she fucking nailed it.

  22. 22.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Darius Rucker, a capella, opening game of the Atlanta-Cleveland World Series, October 1, 1995. Not on you tube, but there is this rendition

  25. 25.

    Svensker

    Not a patriotic song, but a reminder of why we should be glad we declared independence from England. To think some of US could be out in the street doing that… The mind boggles.

  26. 26.

    TaMara (BHF)

    Oh boy, so many cool links to great stuff here. I’m going to look at it all, as soon as I’ve had some coffee.

    I’ve got chicken soaking in bourbon (lucky chicken, it’s some good bourbon), made a buttermilk pie and despite the clouds will be at a bbq and enjoying fireworks today.

    Happy 4th to everyone!

  28. 28.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    Sorry, gang, but DougJ nails it. None compares to Marvin. His rendition IS the America that I love– deeply soulful, and rolling to a mighty backbeat.

    Happy birthday, ‘Merica. We love ya.

  29. 29.

    Redshift

    Not to be a sourpuss, but I’d like to take this occasion to mention that American Idol is in danger of ruining the national anthem. During this hockey season, most of the singers (including the regular) at the Caps games were brilliant, but every time they had a younger guest singer, they Idol-ized it, showing off and making it nearly impossible to sing along with. Harumph.

  33. 33.

    virginia

    I’ve got a soft spot for all the really really bad group renditions that I myself participated in during my high school years. I miss singing it along with other people and trying to tackle it as most everyone swerves off course, crashes into trees, and tries to breath. Anyone who can do it justice–it’s damn hard to sing–deserves a pat on the back. The Marvin Gaye is really nice. And loved Huey Newton and the News–awesome. Anyone who doesn’t turn it in an occasion to show off his/her range and power for the sake of the same gets a lollipop. Would love to hear Meatloaf do it. Or Lou Reed.

  34. 34.

    cckids

    I’ll chime in for America the Beautiful. Early in 2002, my son (then 11) was in a children’s choir, & they did a traditional version with simple harmonies, done very well. Brought tears to most eyes. Even at practice.

  36. 36.

    Libby

    @Jean: I still remember when I learned the lyrics back in elementary school. I’ve been humming it all morning since I found that youtube.

  38. 38.

    The Dangerman

    Another vote for America The Beautiful. How come one of the best Anthems (Oh, Canada) at a neighbor hasn’t influenced the U.S. to get it right?

  39. 39.

    JenJen

    You know, I’ve always loved The Star Spangled Banner. I like that it’s a song about a flag, and I think it’s stirring and magnificent.

    I love “America The Beautiful” too, but as far as anthems go, I appreciate that ours leaves God out of it.

  42. 42.

    Libby

    @JenJen: Yeah, I was just thinking that the God part isn’t great but I still like it better because it doesn’t have any bombs in it. Anthem always struck me as sort of glorifying war.

  45. 45.

    MazeDancer

    On what we hope is the last July 4th with “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” undermining the righteousness of “All men are created equal”, how about two astonishingly beautiful renditions of the SSB by the first openly gay American artist to be signed by a major record label. (Plenty of artists are gay. He’s just the first to be openly so at the time of signing by a label at the level of his – RCA.)

    A short clip from the 2009 Anti Defamation League benefit honoring Steven Speilberg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlhlgJ1pQxo

    In front of cheering & squealing service personnel – and their families – at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPi5oWRDtdE&feature=related

    The artist is Adam Lambert. And he can hit some amazing notes.

  49. 49.

    Beauzeaux

    Another vote for America the Beautiful. The melody is exquisite and sublime, and the lyrics (by Katharine Lee Bates, a lesbian) beautifully express the essence of the natural beauty of our nation.

  51. 51.

    TuiMel

    @Libby:
    You beat me to it. Ray singing “America the Beautiful” is my “personal” national anthem.

    And, for some reason, as a non-believer the mention of God does not bother me.

    PS: As to the actual anthem, I agree w/ Doug J.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    @Libby:

    Anthem always struck me as sort of glorifying war.

    Pretty much all of the anthems of that era do the same thing. “La Marseillaise” talks about the blood of France’s enemies watering their furrows, so ours could be worse, bloodthirstiness-wise.

    (My favorite rendition of that is, of course, the one in Casablanca.)

  54. 54.

    licensed to kill time

    Here’s another vote for Jimi’s version of The Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock. It perfectly expressed the shock and awe militaristic aspect of teh good ol’ USA and still gives me chills every time I hear it. He made the ‘bombs bursting in air’ come alive and you could feel the dread of waiting for the bombs to land. It was so poignant for that particular time in America when Vietnam was tearing the country apart and every single person I knew was affected by the war in one way or another.

    I am again reminded of the New Yorker cartoon during the beginning of the Iraq war that showed a couple kids watching the bombs falling on Baghdad on TV and saying “I sure hope America doesn’t try to bring freedom and democracy to our country.”

    Second choice for me would be This Land is Your Land.

    Happy 4th anyway! Have fun, love your families and friends and pets, that’s what it’s all about in the end, really.

  55. 55.

    wobblybits

    I love the national anthem and cast my vote (er, well two votes) for the Whitney Houston and Marvin Gaye versions.

  57. 57.

    DC10

    The renditions by Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, and Jimi Hendrix are favorites and they each made it sound so different.

  62. 62.

    drkrick

    @SixStringSlingr:

    Was ready to post that link when I saw you beat me to it. It was the night Ripken finally outlasted Lou Gehrig, so I have a copy on tape somewhere. I’m not sure Branford knew about the “O” thing Orioles fans do on “O say does that …”, I thought I saw him cracking a little grin.

    The Whitney Houston version, just after the start of Desert Storm, was great although it turned out it had been prerecorded (she apparently didn’t know they were going to play the tape until she started to sing and realized it wasn’t going to the P.A.) After it was finished, one of the announcers (Dan Dierdorf?) said “I don’t want to say the NFL season is long, but Iraq and the US were allies when training camps opened.” Imagine the shitstorm if something comparable had been said about the invasion in 2003.

  65. 65.

    MaryQ

    I gotta go with the Dixie Chicks as well.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU5AYcAhvyo

    Close harmony, and something really different with “proof through the night that our flag was still there”, and “home of the brave”. Musically, what more could anyone ask for.

    And I think it is only fitting that they did this magnificent version in 2003, the year that Natalie’s comment (which pales in comparison to the kind of crap that Ted Nugent says on a regular basis) sparked a wave of surreal events that culminated in death threats. What a strange time in our history. But it made me a Dixie Chicks fan.

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