Basketball and national anthems
Rihanna at courtside may be good enough to turn heads and demand some attention during Game 1 of the NBA Finals as both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors were raring to go to work. But yesterday, it was Santana’s lead guitar rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner on his trusty custom Paul Reed Smith that attracted a bit of attention this time. Not even a golden umbrella can shield Sir Carlos from a little national criticism.
So unfortunately, it’s gaining some talk around town but not for a good reason. It appeared that Carlos Santana added an extra verse for the national anthem of the United States of America. Needless to say, the performance didn’t go as smooth as planned. What words were supposed to be in that extra verse? Was it even intentional? Perhaps, only the popular guitarist knows.
Alas, the US, seen around the world as champions of democracy, besides the extra verse, wasn’t really bothered about the national anthem done in electric guitar. Heck, an iconic scene would be lefty legend Jimi Hendrix playing the anthem during the 1969 Woodstock Art & Music Fair. Now this rendition was crazy loud. Some want to spin that performance into something political—like a protest of sorts. Was it? Jimi himself in an interview in The
Dick Cavett Show a year later said: “I don’t know, man. All I do is play it. I’m American, so I played it. I used to sing it in school; they made me sing it in school, so, it’s a flashback.” Whatever it was, the performance was so iconic that it was honored with a Grammy in 2009.
So was Santana up to something? Well, whatever the answer, it’s just interesting to see the contrast between how America likes its national anthem served and how our very own The Philippines, would rather stick to the good old classic. Nothing wrong with both, really. I see it as a plain case of preference.
But speaking of basketball and national anthems, the most interesting—okay, weirdest— performance yet, as far as I know and can recall, would have to go to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith—yes, playing the drums for the anthem before a regular season Detroit Pistons versus Atlanta Hawks game. This was probably around the ‘90-’91 season. Unorthodox, but still pretty tight.
For us here, singers forgetting the lyrics would suffice—for now.