Christina Aguilera Joins Hillary Clinton on List of National Anthem Butchers -- And so What?

Christina Aguilera apologized Monday for singing an inane phrase during her performance of the national anthem on the Super Bowl. Instead of singing the correct words, "O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming," Aguilera sang, "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming."

As reported on MTV's website, Aguilera issued a statement saying, "I can only hope that everyone could feel my love for this country and that the true spirit of its anthem still came through."

Aguilera, 30, is no stranger to performing the national anthem, and her gaffe Sunday appears to be one of those momentary lapses when words fail. Aguilera has apparently been performing the national anthem publicly since the age of 7, so there's little doubt she knows the words.

In New Jersey, Super Bowl fans were especially harsh on Aguilera. Comments on Newjersey.com ranged from calling Aguilera offensive names and criticizing her appearance to chastising her sound overall. One critic did acknowledge that it's not unusual for performers to occasionally blank on lyrics, even their own. Muzixndmd noted that both Bruce Springsteen and Bono have momentarily blanked when singing their own songs in concert.

Aguilera isn't the first performer to publicly flub the Star Spangled Banner's lines. Time Magazine published 10 worst renditions of the national anthem, including an incident in which Michael Bolton stopped mid-song when performing at a MLB playoff to consult his notes before pronouncing the very line that ensnared Aguilera.

But the flubs go beyond performers. Anyone who would criticize Aguilera's patriotism for confusing the words of the Star Spangled Banner ought to note that the U.S. Secretary of State and former First Lady even got the words to the national anthem wrong. In this Youtube video, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sang, " Oh say does our star-spangled banner yet wave..." instead of "Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave."

When the former First Lady (she wasn't yet Secretary of State at the time) botched the national anthem, most commenters harped on her singing voice, with little attention paid to the incorrect lyrics.

Maybe our national anthem is one of those songs that's prone to be flubbed. Or perhaps I'm unusually sympathetic, having gone to a college whose fight song contained the line "to our earthy wisdom's fane."