America Hearts Its Ramparts

Yesterday's Super Bowl was extremely entertaining. I didn't have a clear favorite, so it was great to watch objectively and enjoy the amazing talent of both teams. As always, there's no shortage of discussion today about every aspect of the game--the attendance, the fans who lost their seats, the commercials that won and lost, the half-time performances. And of course, the National Anthem, as performed by Christina Aguilera.

I'll start by saying that as a fan of many different styles of music, I admire Christina. She's unbelievably talented. She has an amazing voice and she's a kick-ass performer. When she started the second "what so proudly", I immediately groaned. Come on Christina! She recovered quickly though, and from a performance point of view, if you didn't know the words by heart you probably wouldn't even know there was something wrong. I felt for her, and I was disappointed for her that she turned in less than her best. But that's live performance, and you chalk it up to experience and move on. I knew, though, that it would be a hot topic of discussion today.

The tweets, blogs, editorials, and commentary, generally paraphrased, fall somewhere into a few different groups:

• She made a mistake. What's the big deal?
• She's a paid professional and she should be held to a higher standard.
• She (and all other performers) should just sing the song "the way it was written."
• She's unpatriotic and did a huge disservice to her country, and to the troops.
• She's a - - - - and a - - - - - and - - - - her!! Who in their right mind asked her to sing?

I won't discuss the last category of comments. Trolls. Enough said.

I find myself somewhere between the first and second group.

By definition, you only get invited to perform at this level if you have what it takes.

But if you've performed live, and for long enough, chances are you've made a mistake. If you've ever had the misfortune of making a big mistake in a big performance, it will stay with you for a long time, and it will drive you either to do better, or to quit. In this I speak from experience.

The Super Bowl stage exists on a scale that most of us can barely imagine: the absolute largest audience to which a performer can aspire. The stakes are high, and mistakes are expensive. It takes a great deal of courage and commitment to step up to that level. Solo. And a cappella. That's just wild. Can you get even close to the imagination necessary to feel empathy for someone who braves the challenge of that worldwide stage?

Christina's a professional. Any serious musician even casually acquainted with her body of work knows that she holds herself to a very high standard, and she'll have to live with her performance. I hope for her sake that she'll shake it off, take comfort in the support of her fans, dig deep, and do what artists do: turn adversity into art. Let's remember she immediately admitted her mistake, acknowledging she got caught up in the moment, and said that she hoped the meaning and intent of the song came through. This is as graceful a statement as one can expect in such circumstances.

It's a striking contradiction, though, that those who delight in live competitive games, defined both by inspiring achievements and heartbreaking failures, would be so unforgiving. She's human. She made a mistake. But she's a professional, right? She's well paid. She's used to this. She's accustomed to big moments with big crowds, right? Yeah, well, so are the athletes. You know, the ones from both teams who had critical penalties at pivotal moments? The ones who missed passes? The ones who overthrew their receivers? But somehow that's different. Those guys remain our heroes. And none of us have ever made mistakes doing the work we're paid to do, right? It's an obvious and glaring double standard.

Then there are the musical purists and traditionalists who insist the National Anthem should be sung the way it was written. Enough with the soulful renditions already, they exclaim. This is really a matter of style versus substance. An anthem moves people. Different people are moved by different music. Whitney Houston, Marvin Gaye, and Jimi Hendrix have really moved me with their performances of this song. But then, so does the Marine Band. It's because the music and the lyrics are steeped with meaning and symbolism, and that is moving. But to those who insist on singing it "the way it was written", here's a little secret: the lyrics were put to music that was already popular at the time. It was, in fact, a drinking song. Imagine for a moment some future generation of Americans singing their anthem to the tune of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

But what I find most annoying is the very vocal mob that goes straight for the personal attacks: Christina just doesn't respect the gravity or the responsibility of being honored with this invitation. She doesn't respect the troops. She's not patriotic; she obviously doesn't love her country.

I really don't know the answers to these allegations. I have no personal reason to defend any performer I don't know personally. Nor should you have any personal reason to attack them. I don't know what happened in that moment, nor in the preparation leading up to it. But you probably don't either.

So here's a little quiz for all the armchair patriots out there. See if you can answer without checking online. Since you so freely question the patriotism and courage of others, have the courage to be honest with yourself.

• Do you know how many verses the National Anthem has? Has it ever changed? Do you know a single phrase from any other verse?
• Do you know who the author was, or the true story the lyrics convey?
• Do you know the connection between the National Anthem and our currency?
• Do you know--within 50 years or so--when this song became our National Anthem?

And a few extra questions related to the big game:

• In keeping with a recent tradition, early in the broadcast the NFL ran a video reciting an important historic document. What's the name of the document? What are the first 7 words? Which portion(s) of the document were omitted for time?
• Name the two quarterbacks in this year's Super Bowl.
• Name two players, other than the quarterback, from each team.
• Name two members of the Fox broadcasting team.
• Name two celebrities who attended the game.
• Name your two state senators.

I'll answer my own quiz honestly:

I knew how many verses the anthem has before I started this post. I didn't know of the historical changes associated with the Civil War. I know the last verse by heart, like a lot of people my age who went to elementary school or a traditional church and have a decent memory. I know the author's name, and I'm acquainted with the story. I knew the connection between the song and our currency. I would have missed the question on when the song became our National Anthem, even within 50 years. I can name the document at the beginning of the broadcast, and I know the first 7 words. I do know what was left out, and I commented on it during the broadcast. I could name the two quarterbacks, although not the four other players, prior to posting today. I can easily name two members of the broadcast team, as well as two celebrities who attended the game. Quite honestly I can only name one of my state senators at the moment, and it really annoys me.

Here's the thing: questioning someone else's patriotism doesn't make you more patriotic. Your knowledge, or lack thereof, of American history and civics doesn't make you more, or less, an American. But when you casually attack someone based on your criteria, you leave yourself wide open for someone to call bullshit based on their criteria.

I mentioned to Ally during the game that it really says something about what we've accomplished as a culture that there is such a huge interest and celebration wrapped around this event. The Middle East is going through a sea change; people are protesting and dying in the streets demanding basic freedoms that we all too frequently take for granted. Despite Groupon's tasteless ad, the people of Tibet really are still in trouble. Poverty and disease are very real issues for millions of people around the world, including right here at home. So it's not lost on me that it says something about our country, and the many sacrifices that got us here, that we have the privilege to occupy ourselves with such trivial yet entertaining pursuits. But it makes me sad when I see how much we argue just for the sake of argument, how we carelessly and pointlessly attack each other just for sport, and how we get so caught up in our patriotic and religious symbols and ceremonies that we forget their meaning. Why do we consume so much time and energy tearing each other down instead of building each other up? As the Black-Eyed Peas ask: Where is the Love?