Patriotic Music

While I'm not a flag waver, I do enjoy some patriotic music. For example, The Battle Hymn of the Republic is a favorite of mine. If performed well, it can sound amazing. I heard some choir performing the song yesterday at the opening of the Democratic Convention and I wasn't thrilled with the delivery. It wasn't working for me. Now let me just state that I'm not watching any conventions (Republican or Democratic), but I happened to be in the pantry of my workplace yesterday and CNN was on the television there so that's how I saw and heard the choir's rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. One version of the song that I enjoyed was performed at President Obama's last inauguration by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. It's on You Tube so you can check it out for yourself. There's also a Whitney Houston version on You Tube that's great. Speaking of Whitney, her version of the Star Spangled Banner is absolutely wonderful. It brings tears to my eyes and I was never a huge Whitney fan. There's just something about her performance of that song that chokes me up. And every time I watch it (available on You Tube also), I'm just amazed with how effortlessly she seems to belt the song out. Now maybe she rehearsed and prepared for weeks prior to that performance, but she's so smooth and relaxed during the performance that it seems like she just got on stage, banged it out, and went to have a chicken dinner afterwards.