THE NATIONAL ANTHEM FROM JIMMY TO MARVIN TO MADISON SHANLEY

Who would have guessed the National Anthem would be a hit at the Woodstock Arts and Music Festival in 1969?

Was it an odd choice for guitar ace Jimmy Hendrix to play?

Let’s ask the New Yorker magazine for an opinion:

What Hendrix did with “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Woodstock, in August of 1969, was something else altogether. It was, among other things, an act of protest whose power and convincingness were inseparable from its identity as a fiercely nonconformist act of individual expression.

Everyone’s got their favorite rendition, and not everyone agrees. But an American doing the National Anthem, no matter the opinion, seems right for any American.

The solo might also be registering a different war, one that had been going on at home. The previous year, Martin Luther King, Jr., had been fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, and the blow delivered to the civil-rights movement—centrally inspired by King’s dream of a time “when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”—seems somehow part of the rage flying out of Hendrix’s amplifiers.

Not liking Jimi’s version is common for some who have a hard time liking lots of songs.

Marvin Gaye’s National Anthem

If you don’t like Jimi’s anthem, you probably hate Marvin’s.

Gaye’s performance of the anthem stands out as a jewel, even within his large and much-lauded body of work. It also serves, 35 years later, as a point of meditation: In America’s current politically charged climate, with an especial laser focus on the national anthem and its place at sporting events — how would such a reimagination of the classic be received today?

Let’s ask Madison Shanley:

“I have really strong feelings about perpetuation of behaviors and lack of consequences and accountability when it comes to inappropriate actions,” Shanley told ESPN in reference to the two incidents involving the Portland (Timbers) organization.

People have strong feelings about things important to them; some have strong feelings about things important to others.

“If the organization were to apply the energy they’re using to silence their followers — including me — [to instead] hold people accountable, I think that would be the better option for the greater good,” she said. “It seems that they’re applying a lot of energy to denying claims. It seems really counterintuitive that the organization put out their initiatives, which is clear about presenting an opportunity for people to use their voice and get their feedback, but when I use my platform, and try to give my feedback, I’m urged not to.

National Anthem Means More At The Right Time

When is the right time to give the National Anthem new meaning? 1969? 1983? Or 2022?

Any time is the right time to do the right thing.

Too often we hear something or see something and let it go. Not this time.

Some things are bigger than the moment. Then it gets personal, and that’s when things change.

Instead of going through the motions with what she knew, singing the song and getting the job done, she lit up the moment.

Why wear the shirt?

Because she didn’t want another woman with children to be ignored after their husbands’ abusive actions.

Will she change the shirt and carry on as usual?

No, she won’t. That’s the steel part. She didn’t bend or break.

When you take a stand you also take the chance of falling.

Do we know what to do after falling? We get back up.

Madison Shanley sang the National Anthem in a ‘YOU KNEW’ shirt in front of the Portland Timbers’s home crowd.

She knew, the Timbers knew, and now you know.

This is a good time to ask yourself and your friends what you’d do to make a statement.

Don’t say sing your heart out for the best of reasons. It’s already taken.