You might remember nu-metal balladeers Staind as The Worst Band In The World circa like 2001, a title they achieved thanks to their 5x Platinum third album, Break The Cycle, and its inescapable single, “It’s Been Awhile,” itself a strong contender for The Worst Song Of The Millennium. But did you know Staind frontman Aaron Lewis is now also a successful mainstream country musician, much like Darius Rucker of Hootie & The Blowfish (coincidentally holders of the title The Worst Band In The World circa like 1994)? Well, you would’ve known if you’d been watching Game 5 of the World Series last night, and/or happened to catch Lewis singing the National Anthem before the game at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. You’d also probably know that Lewis botched the words to the Anthem, replacing “at the twilight’s last gleaming” with “were so gallantly streaming.” Here, watch:

In Lewis’ defense, that seems like a pretty understandable mistake: lotta pressure out there, and it’s easy to misplace a phrase or two. But Lewis might disagree! At a 2011 concert in Westbury, Long Island, Lewis lambasted Christina Aguilera for screwing up the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLV. Aguilera botched the song’s fourth line; what should have been “O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming,” was changed to, “What so proudly we watched at the twilight’s last reaming.” In response, Lewis said:

“I don’t understand how people who sing the National Anthem can be so fucking self-absorbed, and try to change that fucking song. If there’s a single song in the history of this country that deserves no creative interpretation, it’s that one.”

I maintain that it’s an honest mistake! Gleaming/streaming/reaming. Anyone could screw it up! I know I would. But I’ll understand, too, if Lewis feels that it’s simply not forgivable and decides to abandon his career in music. You can watch Lewis laying down the smack, too.

(Via Radio.com)