The Super Bowl’s Other Game: The Music
Okay, we’re all good subjects, when the boss commands, we comply, “I want you to step back from the guacamole, I want you to put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up!” With an explosion of energy, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rocked the stadium showing that Super Bowl half time presentations have come a long, long way from the schlocky goody-two-shoes image of Up With People who performed multiple times or even worse, Disney’s “It’s a Small World” gag-me sweetness. The NFL was reeling with embarrassment after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction,” an expression that has now becoming standard fare in modern lexicon. However, as embarrassing as that was, the Super Bowl shows matching diverse musical talents as in the last Super Bowl in Tampa where NSync, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith were all united on one stage, how contrived is that.
Nothing could break from the past than bringing on Paul McCartney who charmed the audience with Beatles’ classics and his solo crowd pleaser, “Live and Let Die.” From there, the Steelers must be the luckiest team in the world having the two most explosive acts in rock music history, the Rolling Stones and now Bruce for their half time show. Oh yeah, besides the two Steelers Super Bowls, we’ve been treated by performances from Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, not bad? Our parents would have had to have had Frank Sinatra perform at an early Super Bowl to top this lineup. The only asterisk to this recent upsurge in quality, the Rolling Stones did agree to be censored as Mick Jagger’s microphone was turned off to censor some slightly naughty lyrics from their set, nothing new for the Stones. Are you old enough to remember, Mick Jagger rolling his eyes as he sung, “Let’s spend some TIME together” to be tame enough for the Ed Sullivan Show as they were promoting their new single, “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” How tame such lyrics seem now.
The disgrace was in the patriotic pregame music. Did anybody think the Faith Hill performance of “America the Beautiful” and Jennifer Hudson’s “Star Spangled Banner” were a little too perfect? How obvious could it be, they were lip-syncing? For Hudson’s number, where was the grand orchestra supporting her?
All-in-all by today’s standards, Hudson provided a rather straight and appropriate rendition of the National Anthem though taking some stylistic liberties toward the end. We find it disgusting the way many pop singers mutilate our country’s most revered musical composition by “hot-dogging” and taking other liberties with the song that represents America around the world. The only alternative performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” which stood the artistic and patriotic standard was when Bruce Hornsby on piano and Branford Marsalis on saxophone provided a mellow, reflective instrumental version prior to the Orioles’ game where Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record. Sadly, what many of today’s pop and country singers do when given the chance seems self-serving and disrespectful.
Okay, we’re all good subjects, when the boss commands, we comply, “I want you to step back from the guacamole, I want you to put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up!” With an explosion of energy, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rocked the stadium showing that Super Bowl half time presentations have come a long, long way from the schlocky goody-two-shoes image of Up With People who performed multiple times or even worse, Disney’s “It’s a Small World” gag-me sweetness. The NFL was reeling with embarrassment after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction,” an expression that has now becoming standard fare in modern lexicon. However, as embarrassing as that was, the Super Bowl shows matching diverse musical talents as in the last Super Bowl in Tampa where NSync, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith were all united on one stage, how contrived is that.
Nothing could break from the past than bringing on Paul McCartney who charmed the audience with Beatles’ classics and his solo crowd pleaser, “Live and Let Die.” From there, the Steelers must be the luckiest team in the world having the two most explosive acts in rock music history, the Rolling Stones and now Bruce for their half time show. Oh yeah, besides the two Steelers Super Bowls, we’ve been treated by performances from Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, not bad? Our parents would have had to have had Frank Sinatra perform at an early Super Bowl to top this lineup. The only asterisk to this recent upsurge in quality, the Rolling Stones did agree to be censored as Mick Jagger’s microphone was turned off to censor some slightly naughty lyrics from their set, nothing new for the Stones. Are you old enough to remember, Mick Jagger rolling his eyes as he sung, “Let’s spend some TIME together” to be tame enough for the Ed Sullivan Show as they were promoting their new single, “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” How tame such lyrics seem now.
The disgrace was in the patriotic pregame music. Did anybody think the Faith Hill performance of “America the Beautiful” and Jennifer Hudson’s “Star Spangled Banner” were a little too perfect? How obvious could it be, they were lip-syncing? For Hudson’s number, where was the grand orchestra supporting her?
All-in-all by today’s standards, Hudson provided a rather straight and appropriate rendition of the National Anthem though taking some stylistic liberties toward the end. We find it disgusting the way many pop singers mutilate our country’s most revered musical composition by “hot-dogging” and taking other liberties with the song that represents America around the world. The only alternative performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” which stood the artistic and patriotic standard was when Bruce Hornsby on piano and Branford Marsalis on saxophone provided a mellow, reflective instrumental version prior to the Orioles’ game where Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record. Sadly, what many of today’s pop and country singers do when given the chance seems self-serving and disrespectful.
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