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It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from former Staind [sic] frontman Aaron Lewis. (You see what I did there? Because the only Staind [sic] song any of us know is called “It’s Been Awhile.” Get it? You get it.)
At any rate, he sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before Game 5 of the World Series, and flubbed the words a little bit. Instead of “at the twilight’s last gleaming,” he sang, “were so gallantly streaming,” which comes in the next line.
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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
It’s a simple mistake that can almost certainly be chalked up to nerves. He said as much in a statement on his website.
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Plenty of people have screwed up “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the past — so much so that it probably wouldn’t even be news at this point, except for the fact that Lewis is on camera criticizing Christina Aguilera for her rendition of the song at Super Bowl XLV.
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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
This was in New York on February 20, 2011, two weeks after Aguilera sang the song at the Super Bowl. Now, in fairness, he’s more criticizing Aguilera’s decision to add notes and extend the length of the song to an almost comic degree. Although, Aguilera does flub the words herself. She omits the line “O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming” and repeats the “what so proudly…” line.
Here’s Aguilera’s version from the Super Bowl:
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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
Both mistakes are quite minor, and the stadium crowds were sufficiently fired up at both events. The only reason I’m still writing about this is because the wonderful Internet managed to dig up footage of Lewis criticizing the exact thing he would do several years later!
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Source: 33.media.tumblr.com
At least Aaron Lewis can still maintain that he didn’t pull a Krusty The Clown on “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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Source: www.youtube.com / Via: www.youtube.com
Nobody should turn down those cue cards.