Audio By Carbonatix
Jazz singer Rene Marie’s decision to sing different words to the National Anthem in advance of Denver mayor John Hickenlooper’s July 1 state of the city speech got us thinking: If she can do it, why shouldn’t we? The answer will be obvious when you see what we came up with — a rewrite of Francis Scott Key’s original words that focus on the subsequent controversy, just in time for belting out at Fourth of July picnics, weekend ballgames or those moments when you’d like to aggravate everyone around you…
Oh, say can you see
By the cameramen’s light
What so proudly Hick hailed
His pearly whites gleaming
The state of the city
And fighting the good fight
So why is everyone
In the city council steaming?
‘Cause there was no rocket’s red glare
No bombs bursting in air
Just Rene Marie
Getting the thousand-yard stare
Oh, say, should that happen
In the home of the brave
When this song is so damned hard
To sing anyway?
Hate it? Feel free to protest. That’s the American way. — Michael Roberts
