After I posted that last piece on “Lift Every — or is it Ev’ry? — Voice and Sing,” a friend sent me a video of jazz singer Rene Marie’s rendition. You’ll notice that the person who introduces her — he calls her Rene “Martin” instead of “Marie ” — announces that she is going to sing “our” national anthem.
When I first watched the video, I was unaware of the context, so when he said “our” I didn’t know which “we” he meant.Turns out that the occasion was the State of the City address in Denver in 2008 and the audience was expecting a straight up “Star Spangled Banner.”
Apparently, Marie’s rendition caused quite a stir, to put it mildly. WARNING: If you venture into the comment thread that accompanies the video, you might need an antacid.
One might argue that Marie should have at least given city officials a heads up. In her defense, she says no one would have complained had her offering included another traditionally patriotic song such as “America the Beautiful.”
I think it’s a brilliant mash-up. What do you think?
I’ve also included a rendition by Talisman, a Stanford University a capella group. Enjoy this one too.
“Mr. Johnson’s demise marks the end of a brilliant and varied career. During his lifetime he had wrought in the capacity of lawyer, author, educator and diplomat,” my father wrote. “As a diplomat he represented the United States in Venezuela and at Nicaragua. As author he gave us several interesting books on the life of the Negro. As educator he was instructor on creative literature at 
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