A Capella Is Better

 

For an awkward 1 minute 50 seconds, Carrie Underwood and the rest of America waited for the music to play at the inauguration. It started for a moment, then stopped. And it didn’t come back. The sound technician apologetically came up to Carrie and said something. She responded, “Let’s sing.”

Carrie asked the crowd to back her up and proceeded to belt out a beautiful a capella rendition of “America the Beautiful.” You could hear the crowd joining in.

Under Biden, a DEI-selected singer wouldn’t have known her words or had the pipes to sing without music. The sound system might even have burst into flame. But Carrie improvised and called on all of America to join her in praising America and imploring God’s blessing on our country. With Trump in charge, it’s a new era.

Carrie Underwood leading the crowd in a capella beauty turned out to be the best.

Published in General
This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 18 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    That was the performance of a real pro.

    • #1
  2. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    A week ago I read that some of her fans — or at least people claiming to be her fans — said they were done with Carrie Underwood for performing at Trump’s inauguration.  It never occurred to me that I should stop liking Fleetwood Mac when they played for Bill Clinton, or that I should stop liking Willie Nelson when I found out that years earlier, he had hung out with Jimmy Carter in the White House. 

    Does it mark me as being very old, that I remember when it was an honor to play for the president, regardless of whether or not you endorsed him?

    • #2
  3. Drew didn't ban himself Member
    Drew didn't ban himself
    @OldDanRhody

    Remember when we used to sing the National Anthem at ball games, instead of listening to somebody else sing it?

    • #3
  4. Matt Bartle Member
    Matt Bartle
    @MattBartle

    She did great in an unexpected situation. 

    • #4
  5. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    I think the song is better a capella anyway. 

    • #5
  6. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    A week ago I read that some of her fans — or at least people claiming to be her fans — said they were done with Carrie Underwood for performing at Trump’s inauguration. It never occurred to me that I should stop liking Fleetwood Mac when they played for Bill Clinton, or that I should stop liking Willie Nelson when I found out that years earlier, he had hung out with Jimmy Carter in the White House.

    Does it mark me as being very old, that I remember when it was an honor to play for the president, regardless of whether or not you endorsed him?

    Totally agree.

    The president is not simply a specific individual whom someone may or may not like, but the figurehead for the country. To refuse to honor a request that a president makes is to dishonor the citizenry.

    Of course, there may be certain times when it would be understandable to avoid the sitting president or his spouse.

    When Melania refused to have tea with Jill Biden, she may have done that over angst she felt over her spouse dealing with assassination attempts that most likely had been set up inside the Biden WH. (Or the Biden Administration’s deep state ties.)

    • #6
  7. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    It is not hard or impressive to sing a cappella and stay on key. A great many people (including myself) can do it. I prefer vocals without instruments.

    She sang beautifully in any case. 

    • #7
  8. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    I think there are quite a few even professional singers, who would not have attempted what she did, spur-of-the-moment.

    • #8
  9. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy Weivoda
    @RandyWeivoda

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):
    To refuse to honor a request that a president makes is to dishonor the citizenry.

    I wouldn’t go that far.  I would say that it is an honor to be asked to perform for the president, but it doesn’t mean someone is dishonoring the citizenry if they decline the opportunity.  If Bill Gates were the president, would you feel honor-bound to perform for him if he requested it?

    • #9
  10. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    iWe (View Comment):
    ly

    Yes, but I would suggest that most big time singing stars could not have done what she did a cappella: stay on key. They need studio auto-tune to stay on the proper pitch. What she did showed musicianship of the highest order under the utmost pressure. Kudos to Carrie Underwood.

    • #10
  11. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    I don’t think this was particularly difficult for her… I mean, she’s got chops, and she probably practiced it a capella a bunch of times…

    But the performance was stunning.

    • #11
  12. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    iWe (View Comment):

    It is not hard or impressive to sing a cappella and stay on key. A great many people (including myself) can do it. I prefer vocals without instruments.

    She sang beautifully in any case.

    As one who can’t carry a tune in a bucket, I’m both impressed and thankful for the save.

    • #12
  13. Douglas Pratt Coolidge
    Douglas Pratt
    @DouglasPratt

    I cried.

    • #13
  14. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    iWe (View Comment):

    It is not hard or impressive to sing a cappella and stay on key. A great many people (including myself) can do it. I prefer vocals without instruments.

    She sang beautifully in any case.

    kedavis (View Comment):

    I think there are quite a few even professional singers, who would not have attempted what she did, spur-of-the-moment.

    What impressed me was the last second (spur-of-the-moment) pivot. I’m sure there are many singers who could sing that song a cappella, but if they intended to perform it a cappella, would have practiced and prepared themselves for it. Apparently, Ms. Underwood was all prepared to sing with a recorded accompaniment track, so the pivot to sing a cappella at the moment would have been a significant mental shift. I know musicians and other performers need always to be prepared that such last-second changes come with the territory of live performance, but she was on a mighty big stage (figuratively), and under a lot of pressure beyond a normal stage performance. 

    • #14
  15. Brian J Bergs Coolidge
    Brian J Bergs
    @BrianBergs

    It was an impressive performance and validated the choice of performer.  Fantastic.  Emotional.  Memorable.

    There are a lot of performers of from many demographics who could have done the a cappella rendition pretty well.  Obviously Carrie Underwood is real talent who doesn’t depend on her good looks.   

    • #15
  16. John Stanley Coolidge
    John Stanley
    @JohnStanley

    One trait, of many, Americans have had through history, is our abilty to deal with the unforseen.

    The following is an example of grace under fire, when the plan has failed.

    • #16
  17. jmelvin Member
    jmelvin
    @jmelvin

    I didn’t get to see the inauguration stuff yesterday as I was tied up in governmental fun of my own, but thank you for sharing this.  That was great!  The singing of national hymns and songs ought to be a public participation act, so this worked out well.

    • #17
  18. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    iWe (View Comment):

    It is not hard or impressive to sing a cappella and stay on key. A great many people (including myself) can do it. I prefer vocals without instruments.

    She sang beautifully in any case.

    I wish I could match your singing talent. I think most folks would prefer that I remain a member of the Silent Majority.  

    • #18
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.