America the Beautiful Sing-Along: What Trump's Inauguration Taught Us About America
A technical failure turned into a brief moment of unity in a divided nation.
Monday, January 20, Donald J. Trump, the TV-famous real estate mogul, was sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States. J.D. Vance, a self-proclaimed hillbilly turned US Senator, was sworn in as Vice President.
After the President took the oath of office, Hail to the Chief played, followed by the Naval Academy Glee Club performing a moving rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic. (Note: Battle Hymn of the Republic was written by a woman as an abolitionist song.)
When it came time for Carrie Underwood to sing America the Beautiful, the music didn’t start. At first, the audience waited patiently, then waited awkwardly—but the track never played.
In a moment of incredible professionalism and good old American stick-to-itiveness, Carrie Underwood mouthed, “Just sing it,” and said confidently, “If you know the words, help me out.” Soon, she was joined by the Naval Academy Glee Club and even some unlikely singers, including Hillary Clinton, Doug Emhoff, and Joe Biden, belting out, “America! America! God shed His grace on thee.”
In some ways, the A/V issue gave us a small glimpse into what a presidential inauguration is really about—the peaceful transition of power and, above all, Americans, no matter who the president is, coming together to celebrate their country.
The news has either been lavishing praise on Trump’s executive orders to stop DEI initiatives and address the immigration crisis or warning that he is literally Hitler and a threat to our democracy. I can’t speak for all of you, but man, I am tired. Like, really tired.
I get it—the news scares the sh*t out of us for clicks and likes. Meanwhile, pro-Hamas university encampments, the fallout of COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates, DEI’s winddown, and concerns about immigration have turned neighbor against neighbor—forcing us to confront what equality, freedom, and opportunity really mean in 21st-century America.
But here’s the thing—we live in a democracy. Every two years, and again every four years, people will be elected that you don’t like. And there will be policies you don’t like. I’m not saying you should ignore them. But life will hand us stuff we didn’t expect.
Since I was a kid, it’s been the Challenger explosion, 9/11, the 2008 recession, the immigration crisis, and then COVID lockdowns. For my parents, it was the Kennedy assassination, MLK’s assassination, the Vietnam War, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the 1970s oil shocks (to name a few). And for my grandparents, it was the Great Depression, WWII, and the Korean War. But what gets us through this is our ability to come together as Americans, E Pluribus Unum.
Life hands us all kinds of things we don’t expect. But we are all Americans—Jewish, Catholic, Hindu, Black, White, Democrat, Republican. And when Americans face the unexpected, we just sing it.
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Thanks for opening comments. I came back to this post after I saw your note about it. I was hesitant to comment, though, because what does it add, really, when a random substacker says that he agrees completely? Okay, how about this: patriotic songs and Christmas carols had their Golden Age(s). The ones that everybody knows are old, mostly, and newer ones seem to be of a nature that only professionals can do them justice. I hope I am wrong. It would be nice to have some recent songs designed in such a way that we heard them both from Pop Stars and in Mom and Pop stores. I know Irving Berlin is long gone, but surely there is someone working today with, say, half his talent. Of course, maybe I am not attuned enough to popular culture and my wish has already come true without my knowledge. If that is the case, let me know what I can learn to sing with everybody.
Well said; I appreciate the perspective👏