Nothing happened February was one of those months when nothing much happened, and when what did happen was in news zones of zero interest to me.
For a guy whose first daily encounter with the news is the morning delivery of his paper-edition New York Post, the three names dominating the month were Whitney Houston (died), Timothy Dolan (made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church), and Jeremy Lin (helped his basketball team to an unexpected string of victories).
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I’ve paid no attention to pop music since about 1975, and never paid attention to soul music at all, so Whitney Houston was barely a name. I’m not a Roman Catholic, and in fact still nurse traces of the mildly anti-Catholic sentiments you get, or used to get, with an English upbringing. I’m pretty much a sports black hole even in regard to the sports I grew up among, and basketball wasn’t even one of them.
(Girls, and only girls, in 1950s England used to play a game called Netball, but I think it’s a different thing. As with the anti-Catholic prejudices, though, it’s hard to shake off early impressions, and I still think of games that involve throwing balls through netted hoops as girly.)
Well, jolly good luck to Timothy Dolan in doing whatever it is cardinals do. May Jeremy Lin throw many, many more balls through netted hoops. And proper condolences to those left grieving by Whitney Houston’s passing. Now, what the hell am I going to write about?
The over-sung anthem Here’s a thought, off on a tangent from Whitney Houston’s passing.
I didn’t just sit dry-eyed through it, I sat through it with rising irritation. No offense to Whitney’s memory: She was just a kid following a trend. It’s a trend, though, that I deplore.
The issue here is: How should the National Anthem be sung? For my taste, it should be sung straightforwardly, strictly according to the score, by a well-trained voice. Kate Smith — fine. Robert Merrill — even finer. Sung like that, “The Star-Spangled Banner” expresses the austere republican gravity appropriate to a nation of free citizens under fair, simple laws. Republicanism is Doric, not Ionian, and definitely not Corinthian.
In recent years, though, a new way of singing the National Anthem has come up, a style that smothers the thing in grace notes, glissandi, rubato, appoggiature, acciaccature, and probably other kinds of musical embellishments the names of which I do not know.
This I deplore. Whitney Houston’s 1991 rendering was in that style. Austere republican gravity? It sounded more like rococo Austro-Hungarian frivolity. Give me Kate Smith any time.
One musical embellishment you may have been groping for is melisma, the cramming of as many rambling notes as possible into a single syllable. I didn't even know there was a word for this annoying technique until Harry Connick Jr. mentioned it in an interview about American Idol, the shrine built to melisma. Funny you didn't mention Whitney's 4-beat rendering of the 3-beat anthem. I generally agree with John, having witnessed many slaughterings of The Star Spangled Banner by disrespectful self-aggrandizers. But I'm going to carve out one exception for Whitney Houston, whose rendition was exciting, patriotic, dynamic and totally lacking in melisma.
Mr Derbyshire:
I like to hear the National Anthem sung or played with decorum just as I like an eulogy delivered with dignity. Therefore, I would not hire my neighbor’s garage band to play the National Anthem (really, to play anything,) and I would not ask Daniel Tosh to speak at a funeral. It is the selection of the performer that creates these distasteful moments; find the selectors and bring them to task.
By the way, the Jimi Hendrix interpretation gets a free pass from me.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the singing of the National Anthem. The song is meant to reflect upon the United States of America, not upon the person singing the song. Straightforward, unaltered, dignified...these are the words that come to mind when I think of the singing of the anthem. I mourn for my country when I think of the singing of the anthem becoming a show for the singer.
I grew up playing basketball and I love the game. Soccer (football to you) was foreign to me, though I made attempts at understanding and appreciating it. In my forties I was invited by my students from abroad to come out the playground and join. Of course I was very unskilled. But I have stuck with the game for years now, and though still a very poor player, have developed a great appreciation for and understanding of the game. Wonderful game. Basketball with the feet.
For commentary on Whitney Houston's passing (and her sad life), see Mark Steyn's commentary.
Thanks, Mr. Derbyshire, for your fine, interesting writing,
Avidyananda,
Norfolk (in the US, not in west England)
The Marilyn Monroe TV movie Derb is looking for is called This Year's Blonde (IMDB lets you do a character name search). Incidentally, there is a movie with Kate Beckinsale called Shooting Fish which features the "common attics" Derb mentions. Two con artists in England sell attic insulation to homeowners, and they just move the same insulation from one attic to another.
The common attics also appear in Kipling's Stalky and Company (good for sabotaging an enemy's dorm) and I think some of Charteris' Saint stories (he could leave and enter his home via a house at the other end of the block).
No adult should be singing the Star Spangled Banner in front of an audience until they've taken the time to understand the words. When you hear someone hit "the rockets red glare" with a shriek and a glorious crescendo, you have to wonder if they understand the the glare was secondary. The proof was not the glare illuminating the flag, but the fact that there would be no need to fire the rockets if there weren't men still manning the fortress willing to give their lives.
The Star Spangled Banner isn't about a flag or some pretty lights. It's about a bunch of muddy young men behind a fortress wall wishing to God they were anywhere else but doing their duty for their country anyway. Anyone singing it needs to get over himself first.
If there's anything I hate, it's people. And if there's anything else that I hate, it's the excessive faux-patriotism at sporting events where the lines about rockets and bombs are accompanied by fireworks that include good loud explosions. And I guess that's still not as bad as the giant tv screen showing a graphic of a soaring eagle superimposed over a waving flag.
Regarding the Marilyn Monroe movie. I searched IMDB using her name as a Character. Could this be the movie: Marilyn: The Untold Story (TV 1980)
( External Link ).
Wow,I did not know anyone could be this boring. Do you do anything at all to relax or have fun? Perhaps I am missing something,maybe it is fun to sit around and look down your nose at everbody else in the world. Think I will pass though,they say laughing and smiling is good for you.Feeling sad is also a normal human feeling.
Sounds like this writer could be a serial killer and not even blink.
