[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xk1P1913y0]
To be a successful musician, you can't just get up on stage and play music. You absolutely have to be a performer. You have to put a good show together, be able to captivate and interact with your audience, and you absolutely have to be able to tell stories and explain some of your music. While this song, obviously, needs no explanation, Ray sets it up with a great, personal, probably exaggerated/fictitious, albeit, funny story. If you've ever seen the biopic Ray, you'll know that Charles' personality was a big part of his success, and it's very clear in this video.
The song is more than appropriate for today, our country's birthday. It started as the lyrics in poem form, written by Katharine Lee Bates. She was inspired by the sights of America she saw on a trip to Colorado. Her words were later combined with music written by Samuel A. Ward. The two pieces of the puzzle were first published together in 1910 under the song's current title.
While you're out and about today and this weekend celebrating our country's independence, don't forget the cost of our freedom, starting way back during the Revolutionary War all the way through today's constant fighting and struggling to keep our way of life. Enjoy your freedom and remember those who've given so much to make sure you have it.
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