Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the junket yesterday:
The crabby Billy Joel told reporters that singing of the national anthem is kind of a slog.
“It’s not the greatest song ever written,” he said, complaining he shoudn’t have to meet with reporters at a Thursday press conference, as required by the NFL.
“I’m just doin’ the anthem period. I ain’t doin’ the half-time show. Prince is doing that.”
Joel dissed the national anthem, saying “‘America the Beautiful’ is actually a better song.” And when a reporter for WBBM-Radio asked Joel to sing a “Chicago song” at the news conference, Joel snidely refused. “Nah, I’m just giving a press conference. I’m not here to entertain anybody.”
Aw, c’mon, Billy–we know that you made your bones as an angry young man, but really, after foisting that an aural sleeping pill on the world earlier this week, you should probably be laying low, at least on the “lobbing potshots at any other piece of music ever” front.
Prince takes questions! [Ellen Warren's Shopping Blog (?!), via Can't Stop The Bleeding]
Earlier: Leak Of The Day: Billy Joel No Longer Goes To Extremes
Agreed. I’m not exactly sure how “The Star-Spangled Banner” even beat out “America the Beautiful” as the national anthem anyway, but it’s not too late to change it. People seem to think it’s been the anthem for all time, but it’s only been in place since 1931.
i was actually going to post ‘you may be right’ with this item, but my billy joel mp3s got lost in the great hard drive fire of ‘05 (sigh). anyway. the point is, as not-great as the star-spangled banner may be, his ‘comeback’ single is much worse.
He’s back on the sauce and ready to get behind the wheel. Watch out, Supebowl-goers!
Superbowl*, obvs.
Coulda been worse. When asked to sing a Chicago song, he could’ve snapped, “Do I look like Peter Fucking Cetera?!”
Is he wrong, though? “The Star-Spangled Banner” essentially suggests that the reason America is a great country is because we kicked ass in one particular battle in a now nearly-forgotten war. Because of its ridiculously wide range, it gets butchered regularly.
And even when sung well, it’s not an emotionally moving song; whereas if you can get through all four verses of “America the Beautiful” without choking up, you have a heart of stone.