Muted Anthems

Is it just me or did the Athens 2004 Olympic Committee decide to play the most lackluster arrangements of the national anthems for the medal ceremonies? I remember watching Michael Phelps get his first gold and hearing the Star Spangled Banner and thinking, "What's with the strings? Where's the brass? Where's the crescendo? Where's the power?" Then I started paying attention to the other anthems. The only one I've heard that seems to have any oomph to it is Romania's. The others are all ho-hum, so this is our big song, whoop-de-do, OK let's go get some gyros. Maybe they sound much more dramatic and impressive in the actual venues over there, but I have my doubts.

As a military brat, our national anthem has been a staple in my life, especially once we moved overseas. I heard that song every single day at 5PM when the base played taps and we all had to stop what we were doing, turn in the general direction of the base headquarters and be all respectful and patriotic as some military folks in their fancy uniforms did their fancy flag-lowering routines. They also played the German national anthem, since that was our host nation. Now, if the military can rig it so anywhere on the base, you can still hear the brass and the boom and the power and the emotion of the Star Spangled Banner as it trickles out of a decades-old speaker system, why can't the Olympics do it?

I'm also no stranger to various arrangements of our national anthem as each movie I saw at the base theater was prefaced by the usual host of previews and a nice patriotic montage to go along with the anthem. And we all had to stand and take off our hats and try very hard not to giggle at the really wretched versions we sometimes had to suffer through. This was especially difficult if you were already sugared up with your pals and were getting ready to see a rollicking comedy. But never once did I have to strain my ears, waiting to hear the big finish, waiting to feel the oomph of the song. Even when I was biting my lip to keep from guffawing at the really cheesy male choral arrangement that the base theater seemed particularly fond of for a few years, I still felt the rush of "home of the brave" (which was particularly cheesy in that male choral arrangement, especially because it was followed by this really bad tag of "America, my home" - you really can't understand it until you've heard it).

I mean, strings? That's nice for some classical music event, but when it comes to the Olympics, you want the gut-wrenching brass and drums that will just wring the tears out of our athletes as they stand on the podium with the weight of gold around their necks and feel the awesome rush of accomplishment. You want the arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner that made me tear up just before I saw Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.