Thought of the Day 09.02.08

If you know me, you know that I love me some baseball. And one of my favorite parts of the game is the singing of the national anthem. But I’ve noticed something over the years. These days the performers often seem to think that the purpose is to see how distinctively they can sing it, both by changing tempo and by doing vocal maneuvers the audience can’t possibly follow. I don’t remember it being this way when I was a kid.

Instead, I remember being just barely able to hear the singer because everyone else was singing along so loudly. And I loved it. It wasn’t because the singers were less spectacular. It was because they knew the difference between an impressive solo and an encouraging lead vocal. They seemed to understand that their job was to lead us all in honoring the country, not to simply glorify themselves under the pretext of patriotism.

Oh, sure. When we all sing together, what we hear may be lower in technical merit. But I can’t help but be convinced that it is far greater in the merit that really matters.