should "Lean On Me" replace "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the US national anthem?

*high fives Austin*

listen up, you non-social distancing asshole. . .

A vocal range of an octave plus a fifth is too hard to sing, let’s replace it with a song that has a vocal range of *checks notes* an octave plus a fourth

it's been a minute since I listened to TSSB attentively but it's not just the range that makes it hard to sing right? aren't the intervals a pain in the ass?

The sentiment that "we all need somebody to lean on" is about the least American sentiment I can imagine. Is the hope that we'd help to shift the culture?

that would be one case for it yes

right now, "Lien On Me" would be more likely to succeed

when you're not solvent
i'll loan you cash
with a good APR

Lean On In

it's been a minute since I listened to TSSB attentively but it's not just the range that makes it hard to sing right? aren't the intervals a pain in the ass?

Not really. The intervals are all either step-wise motion or arpeggios within a major key. There’s nothing harmonically challenging in the context of Western/British music. In fact, “Lean On Me” has a larger leap in it where you have to go up a major 10th to transition from the verse to the chorus than anything in the SSB.

not to mention there's something to be said for a piece of music you've heard thousands to millions of times in your life making it easier to navigate the melody, regardless of how challenging it is or isn't.

most people bomb the National Anthem not because the song is challenging, it's because they either a) have bad internal pitch and change keys unintentionally throughout the song, b) pick a key too high which will result in a comedy finish, or c) just can't fuckin' sing.

thanks for the breakdown I was coasting on iffy recall there xp

course, I'm the type of asshole who will yell "flat!" when a quartet is singing it out of tune before a soccer game

I do think the aforementioned descending sixth followed by the raised subdominant in m.3 is more challenging than anything in e.g. "O Canada" or "God Save the Queen".

Couldn't you just go up by a major third rather than a 10th from the verse to the chorus of "Lean on Me".

?

The only reason it has a 'wide range' is because of the registral shift, which can easily be left out without changing anything in the key or harmony. Some notated versions already do this:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/halleonard-pagepreviews/HL_DDS_12696710WwyADl52k.png

I voted keep SSB bc good btw; just don't agree that it would not be harder to sing.

Yeah there's really no reason to sing the first verse in the same octave as Bill does - indeed, when I play it, I do all the verses the same way. But I am not like a muso dude who knows things

song has a much greater impact starting in the lower octave, then jumping, for the first chorus.

Surely but it seems like it would be much easier to adapt for amateur group singing.

It’s definitely harder to sing just because there is a lot more going on melodically; the question was “aren’t the intervals trickier” and my answer is “not really, there are just more of them”

Haha OK

itt: several incredibly accomplished, knowledgeable, well-trained, and talented musicians exhibit very little sympathy for non-musicians

and then I posted some stuff too don't forget

you are a very good singer tho

aw thanks. tbh i wasn't knocking what you said re: starting up an octave. it's just not my personal choice if I was singing it, but...you had a good point!

i'm mostly just catty about people who sing the anthems at sporting events but only cos I'm secretly jealous that I haven't been asked to do it yet!

A worthy addition to the anthem canon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vga0M4ia5Mc

lmao

star spangled banner shreds

I like it with the accompaniment even better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf0dcMH4N5U

i found my new favorite genre of music.

cpac strangled banner

let’s call em “red notes” from now on

Sung in the key of Q flat.

“Tomorrow Belongs To Meme”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqEp-NMeMF8

freeeee EEEeeeeeeeeee

hahahahaha I knew just from the text which accompaniment video you had posted

AMERICA UNCANCELED ok lol

these guys are also great just from a "how did they sing this with a straight face" standpoint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-O72WMRKo

jute gyte would approve

chic “everybody dance”

earth wind and fire “sing a song”

most of the songs playing at this airport bar would qualify as great new national anthems to me

Most EW&F songs would be great new national anthems.

otm

dying at the CPAC rendition upthread which I somehow missed. holy shit.

It’s incredible