National Anthems. Get it right

No, I don't go around draped in the Stars and Stripes, but I suppose I'm as patriotic as the next guy or gal. Though I have little use for the self-serving political clowns that sometimes run it -- I really do love my country. While it certainly has its flaws, I honestly can't think of another country where I'd rather live. Visit? Sure. Live full time? Don't think so. It could well be yours truly is brain-washed when it comes to such a thing. After all, I have no doubt there are billions of other people around the globe that would say the same thing about their own countries. Where you stand depends on where you sit -- or something like that.

Which brings me to national anthems, specifically those of the United States and Canada, the two I know rather well. Yes, they're technically only songs, but they represent an entire country and, in my opinion, should not be taken lightly, much less abused. I'll get back to that.

Even a dummy like me knew the Star Spangled Banner was composed by Francis Scott Key as he watched a British naval bombardment on America during the War of 1812. Yet despite how many times I'd heard O Canada, the Canadian national anthem, over the years -- I had no idea where it originated from. So I looked it up.

Turns out, it's kind of complicated. Rather than trying to explain it -- here's what I found on Wikipedia---

"O Canada" is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée wrote the music as a setting of a French Canadian patriotic poem composed by poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The lyrics were originally in French and translated into English in 1906.^[1] Robert Stanley Weir wrote in 1908 another English version, which is the official and most popular version, one that is not a literal translation of the French. Weir's lyrics have been revised twice, taking their present form in 1980, but the French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" had served as a de facto national anthem since 1939, officially becoming Canada's national anthem in 1980 when the Act of Parliament making it so received Royal Assent and became effective on July 1 as part of that year's Dominion Day celebrations.

If you can figure all that out -- you're a heckuva lot smarter than yours truly, but I still think the version I've heard over the last few decades is pretty cool. Thing is -- though it may have been tweaked a few times in years past, nobody much messes with O Canada when it comes to sporting events. It's sung the way it's written.

Not necessarily so, when it comes to the Star Spangled Banner. Over the years it's been mangled in every which way. As an American, I didn't and don't want to see or hear.....

Jose Feliciano strumming his guitar and trying to turn our national anthem into some sort of Latino folk song.

Roseanne Barr grabbing her rather sizeable crotch, in a crass display of vulgar humor, while singing it at a ball game.

The celebrity bimbo of the month, with a cup size higher than her IQ, butchering it prior to any sporting contest.

Trotting out anybody that hasn't even bothered to memorize the lyrics.

Trotting out anybody that carries a tune about as well as your average railroad locomotive.

It's the Star Spangled Banner. I don't want to see it jazzed up, blues up, rapped up, souled up, yee-hawed up, heavy metaled up, or otherwise messed up. Just sing the damn song the way it was written. Is that asking too much?

But to their credit -- bravo -- Canadians don't tolerate that sort of nonsense. Despite the twists and turns their national anthem has taken in it's history, it's THEIR song now, dammit, and anybody that sings it better get it right.

They have no patience for some clueless "celebrity", or the nepotism thing with sports executives or other powerful people trying to get a relative some TV exposure. That's not good enough. Not even close.

A lot of times, they'll trot out a world class operatic tenor, who not only knows the lyrics, but can sing both The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada in both English and French, whichever is called for. As he belts them out, the crowd gets worked up into a fever pitch. It's goose bump stuff, even watching on TV. If only for a short while -- it rekindles nationalistic pride -- always a good thing. This is the way it's supposed to be.

Please carry on Canada. Perhaps someday we dumb arrogant Americans will realize you've had it right all along.

Just so you know -- watching the likes of some fat ugly broad that can't sing a lick while groping herself, isn't exactly inspiring for some of us folks south of the border.