The Garden of the Blind

Last night, I went to the fireworks show in my home town. It was great. They keep getting better every year. For the last two years they’ve added music to the show, like things are often done in bigger shows at football stadiums. Most of the music was great, including instrumental bits from Silverado and Pirates of the Caribbean (although I question the timing of that last song, which was used at the end of the show).

What did bother me about the music was that they used Celine Dion’s version of “God Bless America”. I am offended whenever that version of the song is played. I love the song, but I feel that Celine Dion tends to kill a lot of songs, including this one, by warbling aimlessly through them. The end result is repetitive and uninspiring, but that’s not enough to offend me. They also played a lot of trite country songs before and during the show, including an irritating one that says the Pledge of Allegiance and then launches into an editorial about the freedoms we’re guaranteed in this country including the made-up “freedom from want, and freedom from fear”. Celine’s song was released shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Virginia, and so it is a Canadian’s attempt to cash in on American pride and patriotism. That she did it poorly only adds to the offense.

I wonder how long it will be before I can attend a fireworks show where they will not play that song. I hope it will be soon. Maybe they can replace it with a song about our freedom of petition, and freedom to peaceably assemble.