February 14, 2025 -
Good Morning! It’s Friday, February 14.
As we head into the weekend, a quick look back at one feature of last weekends’ Super Bowl - the music. Before the game began I heard four inspiring songs. Lady Gaga, surrounded by first responders in the French Quarter, sang a lovely ballad in honor and remembrance of those that died in the New Year’s Day terrorist attack. Gospel singer Ledisi Young wowed the Superdome crowd with a thrilling “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, and Contemporary Christian artist Lauren Daigle shared a jazzy arrangement of “America the Beautiful”.
And then there came the song that has led into every one of the 59 Super Bowls, a song heard at most every sporting event - “The Star Spangled Banner”. New Orleans native Jon Batiste slowed it down, added some Big Easy style piano, and changed the timing from 3/4 to 4/4. It came in at just under two minutes, and that’s usually a good sign. Aretha Franklin once clocked in at four minutes and 30 seconds. I love Aretha, but that’s a National Anthem I never want to hear again.
One rendition that you can listen to over and over, and that most people rate as the best ever, happened at the Super Bowl on January 27, 1991. Whitney Houston, like Jon Batiste, also changed it from waltz time to common time, and proceeded to knock it out of the park (sorry for the confusing baseball metaphor!). But my personal favorite came just two weeks later at the NBA All Star Game, that like the Super Bowl, was right in the middle of Operation Desert Storm, the Gulf War.
The arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, was filled with a crowd waving little American flags. North Carolina has more military bases than almost any other state, so it’s easy to assume that many in the crowd were service people or service families. It’s easy to imagine that many of them had friends and family fighting in the war. And in that moment, pianist Bruce Hornsby and saxophonist Branford Marsalis presented an instrumental National Anthem that was intimate, delicate, a tad melancholy, and utterly beautiful. Many in the crowd were drawn to tears, and at the end, the applause was deafening and went on and on. It was a moment to savor, a moment to remember.
You can see - and hear - that moment by googling “Marsalis Hornsby NBA Anthem”. You’ll be touched and blessed. You’ll be reminded of how much you love your country. And maybe you’ll be inspired to pray . . . for America.
Meet you back here on Monday,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
