So I had to attend a Chamber of Commerce banquet today. It was the kind of thing that involves both the national anthem and an invocation. (At least I didn't have to give the invocation!)
And actually, I'm not even going to get into all the reasons that is a slippery, sloppery mess. What I'm distressed by is what has happened to the national anthem.
Because we didn't sing the national anthem today. We had it sung to us. Some, maybe most people "participated" by putting their hands over their hearts. But doesn't it seem like a disturbing symptom of the wretched state of our commons that the national anthem has become an occasion for performance rather than communal singing? Singing together is a very powerful force, and we have left it behind.
I tried, sort of, to sing along today, if only to myself. But this performance mentality has come so far that it wasn't even really possible, because of the recorded arrangement the performer was singing along with. It was a little different here and there, which meant that you really weren't welcome to sing along.
I think there should be a law that if you're going to have the national anthem used at all, it has to be "led" not performed, and people should be encouraged to sing along. Is that really asking so much? It would be interesting to see how many people even remember the words any more, since they hardly ever have to sing them. Sad, sad, sad.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I always sing along and I'm not even a remotely good singer.
Indeed, what is up with the lack of singing along? I always feel a bit strange singing amongst all of the non-singers.
Post a Comment