The National Anthem

So when did the National Anthem become a performance piece? Growing up everyone sang at every event, some poorly, some well, some quietly, some full blast, many while trying to figure out what to do with their hands, but virtually everyone sang. I actually first noticed when my wife would nudge me, hush me, or just move away during the singing. That irritated me as I like singing, but I did notice that she was correct that almost no one was singing. I began asking people and got these responses among others:

• As performers began putting their own imprint on the song, no one knew how it was going to go and there you were completely out of step with the music.
• After 911
• Hasn't it always been that way?
• There is less and less group singing in our culture and this is the natural result.

The NA is indeed a tough song to sing and always has been, but it is the song of Americans, we own it. Now, I like my patriotism much the way I like my faith: quiet, honored, engaged in, and not shouted from the rooftops. That said, I worry that if we aren't comfortable coming together and participating in the national anthem, we aren't coming together and participating in our democracy. This is a bad, bad thing because ours is a participatory democracy and not a performance piece.