Matt Walsh Ranks The Worst National Anthem Performances
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
143.22081
Summary
In honor of July 4th, we've compiled a list of the 5 worst performances of the National Anthem ever performed, and we're here to rebuke those who have failed in their own patriotic duty, specifically while singing the anthem.
Transcript
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So we could do something really uplifting and patriotic today for July 4th, but we're
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not really into uplifting content on this channel, so that's not what we really do here.
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Rebuke those who have failed in their own patriotic duty, specifically while singing
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Now as I understand it, singing the national anthem is difficult.
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Was so helpless while I lies at the last gleaming rose dry.
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I can't judge that because every song is difficult for me to sing because I have the singing
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For people who can sing, it's a difficult song to nail, which is all the more reason why you
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just have to be, take it simple, sing it as it's supposed to be sung.
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But what we know is that there are a lot of people who get the chance to sing the national
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anthem and they want to do their own thing with it, and catastrophe is the result.
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So we're going to do a top five, I guess a top five of the worst national anthem performances
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You know, this is a, it's a singer from the nineties.
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He gets kind of a bad rap, but, but, but he deserved it for this performance of the national
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You know, I mean, he's at a disadvantage because he's singing acapella to begin with.
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Uh, it's not nearly as bad as some of the other ones on those, on this list, but it's
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still, that's like your classic, that's sort of your classic bad national anthem performance.
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It really represents many other bad national anthem performances.
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We're just picking on Scott Stapp, um, which, which is unfortunate, but here's where we get
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So number four is Christina Aguilera at, I believe the Superbowl in 2011.
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Gave proof through the night that a flag was still there.
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Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave in the land of the free?
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I can't really tell, uh, as far as I know, she is, that's not the issue.
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So before Scott Stapp can't sing here, she can sing, but she's doing way too much.
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So she's turned the national anthem into an opportunity to show off her vocal range.
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It's all about, look at me, Christina Aguilera.
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If you want to perform a song like that, you can perform your own songs like that.
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It is not supposed to be a, it's, it's not written to be a vocal showcase.
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And any attempt that you make to turn it into that, it's going to be terrible.
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Um, now we get into the really, really bad stuff.
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Next is the band, uh, the fray performing at the final four about 10 years ago.
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You can always tell, like, that's why I think that's why when you watch the national, these
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national anthem performances, the performers always have their eyes closed because they
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don't want to see the reaction of the people in the crowd, because you can tell based on
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the reaction of the athletes that are standing on the court or the field, if they have this,
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like, what the hell's going on kind of expression, you know, that you're not, you're not doing it
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I mean, the national anthem, look, I don't know how many times I have to say this.
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If you just got a folk singer strumming the acoustic guitar and singing some song about
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But the acoustic guitar does not belong on stage during national anthem performance,
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Okay, number two, we go to convicted child sex predator R. Kelly, who, before he went to
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And it was in that capacity that he was called on years ago, I don't know how long ago this
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was, this was a while ago, to perform the national anthem before some kind of big boxing match.
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And we can only assume that he came up with this arrangement after getting punched in the
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head 15 times himself, because otherwise I can't explain it.
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Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed, by the twilight's last name, whose broad strides and bright stars, through the perilous fight.
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Yeah, no, that's, so the national anthem is not a folk song.
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It's also not whatever that, it's not elevator music or R&B.
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I don't know what the hell he was trying to do there.
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Listen, here, for the national anthem, remember that it was written by Francis Scott Key,
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as he was remembering Fort McHenry in Baltimore, being bombarded during the War of 1812.
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You should be able to imagine people marching into battle while listening to the song.
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If you can't imagine the national anthem being performed as troops are marching off into battle, then it's not a good performance.
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Finally, we get, I mean, nothing could ever top this.
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This is Fergie at the NBA All-Star Game in 2018.
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Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
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I don't think, there have been some really bad ones that people will nominate as the worst.
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I mean, the Roseanne performance we didn't even put up.
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I don't think anyone gets quite as bad as that, and that's a national tragedy.
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I think we should at least talk about charges of treason for anyone who performs the national anthem that poorly.
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And if I was the theocratic fascist dictator of the country, and you performed like that, they're going to haul you off the court and throw you in prison.
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So, don't sing the national anthem like that today, but do enjoy yourself.
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Now that we've afflicted all that on you, have a happy July 4th.