It was on this day in 1968 that Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano created a huge controversy by redoing the National Anthem in his style. Let’s remember that 1968 was the year Martin Luther King, Jr. and Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy were both assassinated and the year of the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Those events were the most memorable events in a year that was defined by a divide in America between the young, anti-establishment generation and the establishment. Ironically, today that anti-establishment generation is the establishment. The year 1968 was a year of great sensitivity in America and a singer taking creative liberties with the National Anthem touched a lot of nerves.
Jose Feliciano sang his version of the National Anthem at Game 5 of the World Series between Detroit and St. Louis. As he sang the nation’s song, boos could be heard from some of the fans who were offended by the way the song was being sung. But was it really that bad?
The question then - and now - is whether it is unpatriotic to sing the National Anthem in any way other than the traditional way? I understand that the National Anthem is very personal to many Americans, as it should be, and they do not accept any liberties taken with the basic singing of the song. Our National Anthem is based on an old English drinking song so it’s not like the melody is to be revered.
In 1969, Jimi Hendrix took his liberties with a wild, rocked out version of the National Anthem at Woodstock and a young generation loved it. Maybe that young generation loved it because it was a break from the established version and that generation supported anything that was anti-establishment.
While I understand the support many have for the traditional way of singing the National Anthem, I think that shaking up with the Anthem causes us to actually pay more attention to it. In church, when the same prayers are repeated in the same way week after week after week, it’s easy for that to become so repetitious that your mind can wander and you are not paying attention to what you are saying. I think the same can be true with the National Anthem. Singing it over and over and over again in the traditional style can become boring to the point where you automatically repeat the words without actually thinking about the words. I’m sure many Americans do think about the words they are singing, but many may be thinking about other things while they repeat the words. Changing the Anthem may cause us to pay more attention to the words we are singing.