When Nashville was playing hockey in Canada this week, a professional singer was belting out the "Star Spangled Banner" before the game when her mike cut out. The mostly Canadian crowd didn't miss a beat, but finished the song for her.
Do they have better music training in Canada or something? That crowd didn't even hesitate about what key to sing it in, totally together. Every time I hear a bunch of Americans try to sing "Happy Birthday," they are in as many keys as there are singers present.
They could hardly have worse education in music than we do. It was an impressive display, all the same.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear a bunch of Americans try to sing "Happy Birthday," they are in as many keys as there are singers present.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that very few Americans know "Oh Canada." I certainly don't, and I am more musically inclined than the average bear.
Speaking of national anthems, when I was in high school, I didn't pay much attention to our alma mater. Most of us so disliked it that for our high school graduation, the best the elders could do was to have us stand while the alma mater was being played. We absolutely refused to sing the words.
Years later, I realized that the melody came at least in part from a Hayden hymn, usually known as Deutschland Uber Alles, which as a national anthem has had some fame- and infamy. Which probably explains why when I was in high school I didn't make the connection. As the national anthem of Germany during the Nazi era, the song had been erased from the scene.
Though if I recall correctly, the crazy crypto Nazi in The Producers, who wrote Springtime for Hitler, had sung a line or two or Deutschland Uber Alles.
We sing the Hayden hymn now and then in church, but it's always a weird feeling.
ReplyDeleteResponding to the challenge in the linked article, I realized that I had no idea what "O Canada" sounded like. When I played the video, it didn't sound even remotely familiar. I'm not sure I've ever heard it in my life.
Ever been to Chicago, T?
ReplyDeleteOne...advantage...to growing up in Kankakee is that I got to watch some Black Hawks hockey, in those days when it was hockey and not Roller Derby on ice. O Canada always was played in the stadium (and presumably in The Garden, in Detroit, in New York's MSG (we knew it as the rinky-dink Monosodium Glutamate), and so on, whenever the Canadians or the Mapleleafs came to town.
Eric Hines
Chicago? Way too far north for me. Actually, I think I did go there once briefly, but in general I've spent very little time anywhere near Canada. It does look beautiful in pictures.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested, the current national anthem of Germany is the same hymn (Deutschlandlied), they only use the third stanza anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnd I actually still know it, despite learning it in German class almost three decades ago.
Song and music can unite a large group into one spirit.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese and Germans often had that touch.
If America no longer does... well, that is what it is.