Talk about eating your words! Three years after ripping on Christina Aguilera for botching the National Anthem in the 2011 Superbowl, singer Aaron Lewis had his own embarrassing moment with our country’s theme song on Sunday night.
Before I go into any more detail, let me elaborate more on that statement. First off, Aaron Lewis is the frontman of the ‘90’s rock band, Staind. Remember that song, “It’s Been Awhile”? That’s him. Once the ‘90’s ended and Staind lost their popularity, Lewis and the band disappeared into post grunge obscurity. Until now.
Now, I’m not too sure why the Giants asked such a little known musician to sing the National Anthem at Game 5 of the World Series against the Kansas City Royals, but they did. And the consequences were cringeworthy to say the least.
Two lines into the song, Lewis sang “What so proudly we hailed, were so gallantly streaming”, instead of “What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming.”
As soon as these incorrect lyrics came out of his mouth, the FOX Sports cameramen thought it would be a great idea (it was) to pan to Giants players standing on the sidelines. Their reactions were pretty priceless. Some gave him the side-eye, some laughed, and Tim Lincecum could be seen mouthing, “He forgot the words. Yep.”
To give Lewis some credit, he did sing the rest of the song perfectly and even issued an apology on his Facebook page for screwing up the lyrics. Plus, his butchering of the National Anthem was not as bad as some of the others ones I’ve seen in my life. Michael Bolton, I’m talking to you.
But on the flipside, how the heck do you mess up the National Anthem after basically saying Aguilera was narcissistic and self-absorbed for making an unwanted mistake? If only hindsight was 20/20, right Aaron? I’m also guessing that if hindsight REALLY was 20/20 then Staind wouldn’t have been brought into existence either.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that once the reaction dies down, Aaron Lewis will be forgotten and the Royals will be celebrating their first World Series title win over 29 years.
Torie Bolster
Sports Editor
About Post Author
