Wry Muse: Denver Songstress Replaces Nat'l Anthem With "Black" Nat'l Anthem at Public Address
Dateline, Denver, Colorado.
Mayor John Hickenlooper's annual State of the City address may get more attention for what wasn't included than what was.This is the part where I expect Cogito to chuckle, recalling one of our favorite bits from a young Albert Brooks.At the start of the event Tuesday morning, City Council President Michael Hancock introduced singer Rene Marie to perform the national anthem.
Instead, she performed the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," which is also known as the "black national anthem."
***
Actually, the African Americans website africanamericans.com calls it the Negro National Anthem; pardon me for a moment while I "go figure." ...okay; I'm back.
Still, I'd certainly vote for it for national anthem over Mr. Key's work, if Mr. Brooks is willing to continue his contest.
Provided it doesn't drag on and on in some dreary, Soviet fashion.
And, of course, too many splinter groups would blow a gasket over my favorite part:
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
And here's the video.
For what it's worth, just like the national anthem, I will mention it was hard to find a version that wasn't fraught with political overtones — overblown — or not too amateurish on the other extreme. I just wanted a straight-forward presentation; this one does nicely, I think.
Comments