Column: Singing in the Land of the Free

Jul. 17—The mangling of the "Star Spangled Banner" by Ingrid Andress at the MLB Home Run Derby quickly spread the social media world under the heading "worst ever."

My first thought was "bless her heart." It's been a recurring nightmare of mine that I get up to sing and the voice just won't do what I want it to do. Still, I persevere to the end of the song thinking it will get better, but it doesn't. When I'm finished I try to slink away, but I feel obligated to stay for the rest of the event all the time thinking folks are looking at me and shaking their heads in disgust.

Well, in the case of Ms. Andress, she tied to explain her disaster away by saying "I was drunk."

Have we come so far in this society that we'd rather be thought of as inebriated than a vocalist having a bad day.

Try that excuse the next time you're pulled over by a DPS trooper for a traffic violation. "Officer, I would have executed the stop at that signal had I not been totally bombed." You might turn a ticket into a trip to the holding cell.

Let me backtrack here and say, I hope Ms. Andress gets the help she needs and maybe has another chance to nail the high note on "land of the free someday.

But as for the National Anthem, there've been some questionable performances of late. Some folks think it needs a lot of embellishment and they're just the person to give it the curly Qs it needs. A lot of folks have their favorite performances, like Whitney Houston's or Sandy Patty's, but my mind goes back to a day at the Cotton Bowl when Charlie Pride sang it.

Charlie may not have made the majors as a ball player, but he certainly had a big league career as a singer. The National Anthem may not be the kind of song the "Kiss and Angel Good Morning," singer was noted for, but he sang it straight in his rich country baritone and belted out the high note with authority. When he was done, to the applause of the Dallas audience, I nodded and thought "Way to Go Charlie."

Before the "Star Spangled Banner, the stadium announcer usually booms something like "and now to honor America, our National Anthem." It would be nice if the stars would keep that in mind when their turn comes to sing a few bars for the flag of the free.