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11
Dumdum 11 points ago +14 / -3

That was one of the shittiest renditions of the National anthem ever. It's baffling since he had some good songs.

13
TrumpTrain425 13 points ago +15 / -2

Yeah I NEVER saw the allure. It's like when black women get to sing the national anthem and all the sudden they're queens of range and pitch and flourish.

5
OhLollyLollyPop 5 points ago +5 / -0

I agree. I want to hear the Anthem straight. No junky high pitched interpretations.

3
stratocaster_patriot 3 points ago +3 / -0

Wouldn't it be refreshing to see more black women who don't think they are actual African queens?

7
I_Used_to_be_me 7 points ago +8 / -1

It was intentional, or so the rumors now go. He used distortion, whammy (to bend notes and generally make the music chaotic) and wailing notes in an intentional manner to attempt to make the anthem sound like the war/Vietnam, and do his best to have the guitar playing be reflective of gunfire and bombs going off. It wasn't supposed to sound pretty or melodious. Personally, as a pretty capable guitarist of ~20 years, I have a difficult time replicating his version perfectly (though I do use his version, skipping over the chaotic parts and retabbing certain areas of his version, to play a more normal/recognizable version of the anthem)

3
stratocaster_patriot 3 points ago +3 / -0

He was on the genius side of things IMO. People like that write incredible songs interspersed with complete bullshit. I'm also a Prince fan so I know all about that lol. But I agree that was the worst version ever. Although Roseanne.....

2
GreekFreakFan 2 points ago +2 / -0

Nono, you're thinking of Mariah Carey during the NBA Finals.

1
tombombadil 1 point ago +1 / -0

It’s not baffling. He was high as shit lol.

He was intentionally trying to mix in other noises that weren’t conventionally used in guitar. He did it all the time live and it is part of what made him so different from everyone else before him. Most famous was his machin gun noise which you can hear at :35 in this video https://youtu.be/Lw2L_vGUMtE