‘Black National Anthem’ choice about art, not politics or Obama: Singer

October 31, 3:39 PMDenver People ExaminerErnie Tucker

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Rene Marie (photo courtesy: The artist)

Rene Marie doesn’t vote. The controversial Denver-area jazz singer says she doesn’t back either Barack Obama or John McCain, preferring instead to act on a personal and social level.

And despite what some may think, she says her performances are about artistic expression not politics.

Which is why the tidal wave of responses overwhelmed her after she blended the lyrics to the "Black National Anthem"(originally titled "Lift Every Voice and Sing") to the tune of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Mayor John Hickenlooper’s State of the City speech last July. Hickenlooper and others blasted her in public for making the switch.

“I didn’t expect to get the reaction that I got,” she says. “At worst, I thought I might get a raised eyebrow.”

After all, she says, she’d sung her variation two weeks previously, and Gov. Bill Ritter and others had praised her version. After being invited by the mayor’s office to sing the National Anthem, she’d run the idea of experimenting past her husband and a musical consultant. They said “the worst thing that would happen is that somebody would stop me in the middle of it. Totally understandable.” Further, she says she figured that those who had invited her “must have heard me sing this song.”

So after a Color Guard presentation at the city function, with hundreds looking on and local TV cameras rolling, she sang the version which has generated tens of thousands of views on YouTube:

"Sing a song full of praise that the dark past has taught us
Sing a song full of hope that the present has brought us
Out from the gloomy past...till now we stand at last"

Other lyrics include: "God of our weary years, God of our silent tears".

Stunned silence. Then anger.

“I wasn’t prepared for people to go to the media and stoke the fires,” she said, adding that at least one outraged caller from the mayor’s office accused her having “seriously compromised” Obama’s campaign. “Why do you assume I had compromised his, and not John McCain's? I thought that was quite telling. It’s amazing the assumptions people jump to, because I am apolitical.”

Obama, scheduled to appear in Colorado Springs a few days later, was asked about the firestorm, and replied “We only have one National Anthem. And so, if she was asked to sing the 'National Anthem', she should have sung that. ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song, but we only have one National Anthem.”

“People said I had an agenda,” she says. “Personally, I was just singing a song. Doing what I always do. I think the thoughts people have [about] art says a lot more about them then it does about the artist. All you’re doing is putting your art out there. You’re not asking people to like it or hate it.”

Her point in choosing something unexpected, she says was “I wanted to marry the tunes together to show that there is more than one way to express love for one’s country.”

“I believe in crossing lines. I’ve done that all my life. I don’t just do it in a musical context. I do it in all contexts as well” says the artist who grew up Virginia, and didn’t begin performing until 1998. Her approach hit a nerve, but she rejects the accusation that it was to enhance her reputation. “It certainly wasn’t a publicity stunt,” she notes.

Indeed, as more than 1,500 emails cascaded in, she declined most interviews, preferring to privately read all of the emails – the good, bad and ugly. “I wanted to hear the impact it had,” she says. “Some were filled with anguish about the country and race relations.” Some were congratulatory; others spewed hate.

Despite the uproar, Rene Marie has continued to perform, both in Colorado and on tour. She takes the stage again Saturday, Nov. 1, at Dazzle, 930 Lincoln Street, where she was played during the DNC. However, unlike previous times at Dazzle, when she features her original tunes, she’s planning to revisit standards.

“This time, because of the craziness that’s going on with the election and economy, I would provide the musical equivalent of mashed potatoes and meatloaf – wasabi mashed potatoes.” One exception is one original piece of hers, dedicated to her late father, which combines his two favorites: Ravel’s “Bolero” and Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne.” “It’s really cathartic to me,” she said, noting that it was inspired by regret over her relationship with her father when he died in 1996.

Still, even as she dips into other compositions, she continues to reflect on fallout from "The Black National Anthem."

The artist summarizes that “it was so interesting. I learned so much and I’m so glad I did it. I’m still learning from it.”

And what has perhaps become one of her signature tunes will stay in her repertoire. She’s planning a “Voice of the My Beautiful Country” tour next year, which will feature a rootsy suite of “America the Beautiful”, “My Country Tis of Thee” and the “National Anthem.” A 13-minute version is available for free on her website.

 “Would I do it any differently? I wouldn’t do it any differently,” she says.