Why do I cry when I hear the National Anthem???

All the stupid stuff wrong with this country, but the tears just start runnin when they present the Colors...

I was doing a little bit of blubbering myself. Had to grab a tissue. :hi:

before it got fucked up by corporate toadies and religious fanatics.

And you fear that it will never be like that again. At least in your lifetime. Or your kids.

That's how I feel anyway. Nostalgic I guess.

My "feeling" is more like mourning, tho.
Like watching a loved one slowly die of cancer. Hope one day, fear the next, but the resignation does not come for a long long time, and the acceptance is further behind that.

I really really tear up when I hear "America the Beautiful"...a much better "anthem" IMHO.

I think of all who serve, died, will die, and because of them we have elections. We're not perfect, but it shows we're still trying..

I don't cry at it, but I hear it so often....from watching sports and covering sports. I've heard some really good renditions and some really bad ones (mainly from 14-year old high schoolers). Most times, I just want the game to start.

but to me it is just a lousy song that glorifies war.

i can understand both points of view to be honest...


i remember in school i was never a big fan of having to say the pledge of allegiance, i remember forming the opinion around 12 that it was violating my rights and was kinda creepy in all seriousness...

the anthem tho, ive always respected and been moved by it.

gone wrong in this country - the dream is still there but it is damaged. It hurts.

For some of us, it reminds us that we are a nation that seeks Human Rights and looks forward to a new and brighter future; others find it militaristic; some find it as a manner of protest, remembering that we were born of protest.

There are times when it really chokes me up, and other times when I wish it would just "end" and the ceremony go on.

It is hard not to feel pride when it is played at the Olympics after a Gold Medal is won. Anyone who saw Whitney Houston sing the Anthem at the Super Bowl XXV cannot say they were not moved, and probably to a great degree. A lot has to do with what is happening at the time.

When bush was inaugurated, I felt like the Anthem let America down, but when President Obama was inaugurated, I felt that the Anthem sounded fantastic!

There is one piece of music that gets to this Vet more than any other...Taps. I have stood at many a grave of my former comrades in arms, my father and stepfather among them...when I hear the lonely strains of Taps coming over the hill, from a distance, I cannot help but shed a tear for those who have manned the ramparts on cold windy nights, on the sands of deserts, on battlefields here at home and in far away lands. To me, it is the loneliest, most beautiful and most personal of our National Musical History.

Anthem was more of a Whitney Houston song than the anthem the way she sang it. I didn't really care for it.

I'm a traditionalist - give me Robert Merrill, though I liked Jimi Hendrix also. Go figure.

It needs to be replaced by "This Land Is Your Land" or something along those lines.

Because it reminds me of what our country was and could have become if the economic royalists hadn't screwed us all over after WWII.

The anthem is a very difficult song that requires some top-notch vocal pipes to pull off. Therefore they always have someone with a pretty spectacular voice to sing it.

In fact, not even often. I've heard far too many cringe-worthy renditions.

And please, folks, it's lovely as it is. Could we quit with all the trills and flourishes? That's not going to make up for veering right off-key.

:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A

when I thought a less than traditional version really worked. But then again, we were in the hands of a true musician there.

I think we should replace it with Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder or Harder, Better, Faster by Daft Punk.


:P

Powerful, emotional, passionate, heartfelt. I'd kill for a national anthem like it

especially as sung by Ray Charles.

at the National Cathedral... That's when I really lost it! :cry:

It's really a beautiful song. A lot easier to sing, too.

...on top of a US flag and no amount of bleach shot up your nose is going to wash that image from your brain. :evilgrin:

I hate nationalistic trappings like the Anthem and the Pledge. I personally think it has no place in a democratic society. When I am forced to stay away when it's sung (like at my nephew's HS graduation last year), I just stand quietly.

I also think that national anthems shouldn't be played at the Olympics, just the Olympic "anthem."

but I don't get why it is played before sporting events. Sports = patriotism? :shrug:

usually slaughtered by the singer.

...the hopes and dreams, hard work and love that generations of people have in common.

Just to get you going again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghz4_kikLkE

:patriot: