Did Steven Tyler Flub the 'National Anthem'?

It's quite an honor to be considered to sing the "National Anthem" at the beginning of a ball game. At least, I always thought so. And along with that honor comes the responsibility of singing our U.S. anthem with the respect and conscientiousness that it deserves. That anthem represents our country and everything that it means to be an American. Of course, that means learning the melody correctly, knowing all the words, and singing in a manner that is respectful of our country. Scads of elementary and middle school aged choirs have sung the National Anthem with beauty and grace time and again. How funny is it, then, that American celebrities, -singing professionals, as it were, from Cindy Lauper to Christina Aquilera, have flubbed the anthem? Why is it children can do what a professional cannot do?

I was very interested, then, when I saw the video of Steven Tyler singing the "National Anthem." I, like many other YouTube watchers, replayed it over and over again. After all, Tyler is an icon, a rock legend, and a musician who's career has spanned across several generations of listeners. Rolling Stone magazine even cited him as one of the greatest singers of all time. So who better to kick-start America's favorite past time then a Hall of Famer whose music represents hard working Americans? It seemed right to me. I watched the video. And I read the reviews.

I was completely surprised by the lack of support for Steven Tyler, as well as the plethora of critical comments swimming around the Internet. For example, bleacher.com reported, "He butchered it." and huffingtonpost.com pointed out that it, "probably wasn't his best work." Deadspin called it one of the worst anthem's of all time. Well, I'm sure Tyler is no stranger to being considered offensive. After all, part of Aerosmith's legendary appeal is their hard rock music, rebellious image, and devil-may-care attitudes (not to mention sex, drugs, and foul language, but I digress). And of course, there's the hair. It's all part of the package. But while others were definitively hard on Tyler's performance, I found nothing offensive or even bad.

What I heard was a critically acclaimed, Hall of Fame rock musician and American Idol judge singing his heart out for our country, and singing with pride. It's not easy to stand in front of thousands of people and sing a capella, especially with the stigma of other celebrities' flubs hanging around. Even professional singers can feel out of their element when they're not singing with their own band, their own instruments, their own venue, and with their own sound system. Not to mention that the National Anthem spans a vocal range of an octave and half, which is a challenge in and of itself. Most non-professionals, and as we well know, many professional singers as well, have trouble with it. So when Steve Tyler took the mic, hit all the right notes, and only changed a word or two (poetic license, perhaps?), I was impressed with the performance. It was good. And to my ears, it sounded just like Steven Tyler should sound without his band. A seasoned music teacher from Pennsylvania pointed out to me that Tyler put just enough spin on the National Anthem to make it his own, but not so much that it became something entirely different. As for the scream? He replied, "It's just Steven Tyler. And I actually liked it." And so, my friends, did I.