World Series 2013: James Taylor confuses ‘American the Beautiful’ for National Anthem (video)

There have been many shocking moments over the years when it comes to televised performances of the National Anthem, almost to the point that it is completely shocking if someone doesn’t mess it up. So why in the world are there so many of these happening? The simple answer to that is just “The Star-Spangled Banner” has to be one of the most intimidating performance out there, and when you are performing in front of tens of millions of people around the world, there is a little bit of pressure that goes along with that to say the least.

With that in mind, enter James Taylor. The man was present for Fox’s broadcast of the World Series Thursday in Boston, where the Red Sox were hoping to get off to a 2-0 series lead on the St. Louis Cardinals. Taylor pretty much got off to the worst start here imaginable … mostly because he started off by playing the wrong song. Rather than hitting the opening lines of the Anthem, he instead started off with “America the Beautiful.”

Honestly, we feel for the guy from this perspective. This was not Roseanne Barr singing the Anthem, or someone else out there who really had no business performing. This is a guy who is in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and has probably performed the song hundreds of times over the course of his long career. So to mess this up now? It wasn’t him over-singing or trying to one-up the rest of show business. It was just an honest mistake, and one that’s probably going to haunt him for the rest of his life. Personally, we just hope that he finds a way to have a good sense of humor about it in the end.

If you were in James’ shoes, how would you feel about this? And, do you think that there is any way that you would recover from it? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below!

Photo: Fox