Luke Bryan Cheats with Lyrics On Hand During MLB National Anthem: So What?

The buzz this morning concerns Luke Bryan’s performance of the National Anthem at the MLB All Star Game last night (Tuesday, July 11th). I’m not a big baseball fan (sorry sports people!), and I didn’t tune into the game. So, you can imagine my surprise when I was looking over Twitter, and discovered the following tweets from Bryan.

Apparently, during his heartfelt and skillfully executed performance, viewers noticed that at one or two points Bryan glanced down at his hand while singing. It seems relatively obvious that he had something (…we now know for sure “a few key words”) written on his hand, and he was glancing down to read. Some of these viewers had a decidedly negative reaction to his “approach” going as far as suggesting he was a disgrace and that this behavior was indicative of someone who is a “bad American”.

There were some mild Tweets like the one USAToday quoted:

“Luke Bryan sings the National Anthem the way I used to take geometry tests.”

Then there were the slightly more aggressive tweets like:

@Wiseguy2389: “Raise your hand if you know the national anthem…put your hand down @LukeBryan Online you’ll be able to read it better!“.

Then there ones like this from @JYjr21:

I really have seen and heard many ignorant things, but the general negative reaction to Bryan’s performance and the specific accusations of being a bad American (or less of an American in anyway) has to be one of the stand out instances I’ve witnessed.

Does Knowing the Anthem Make You An American?

First of all, since when is having the National Anthem memorized the barometer for your status as an American? When you come through customs after traveling outside the country, do they ask you sing the National Anthem? If you get pulled over by the police, do they ask you to sing it? If you want to vote, do you have to burst out the chorus first? No, you don’t because what literally makes you an American is a piece of paper, identification proving that you have been born within the invisible boundaries of our country or were granted citizenship later in life. Neither of which has anything to do with the National Anthem.

It really just boggles my mind how people so quickly jump to the “finger pointing” and “name calling” whenever someone does something they consider wrong or “bad”. And how has the ultimate insult become “bad American”. It seems so overused to a point that I think some people don’t even know what “American” means anymore, in any context…

Could You Sing The National Anthem In Public…Alone?

Anyway, I’m sure a majority of Americans are probably familiar with the National Anthem, at least enough to recognize it. Yet, I bet that if you put the average American in front of a stadium full of strangers and had them perform it all by their lonesome…they would be up a creek without a paddle. See, this is the point, Luke’s performance and his little cheat sheet have nothing to do with how patriotic he is or isn’t but more to do with how nervous he was or wasn’t. If I had to sing a song (any song, really, but especially one with as much cultural importance as our Anthem) in public, I would want a cheat sheet.

Not Everyone Is A Hater…

On the positive side of things though, many of Luke’s fans rallied in support and understanding behind the singer. Also, Bryan’s performance was really very good, and you can check out a clip of it below to see for yourself!

Luke Bryan MLB All Star Game National Anthem Performance.