Lady Gaga singing the song from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at the Super Bowl is as American as you can get
There have been few times in my life where I’ve heard the eagle screech of a true American moment. One being when I saw Top Gun: Maverick for the first time. And now another is Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance.
As a powerful message of hope in America, Gaga performed the song “Hold My Hand” at the start of the broadcast. Michael Strahan and Tom Brady were walking with other iconic members of the NFL (including my own beloved Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers). Strahan and Brady spoke about the terrorist attack in New Orleans at the start of the year as well as the natural disaster that devastated places in North Carolina and Southern California.
The message was clear: Americans are strong and despite the divide in our country, we come together to help one another and to celebrate American past times. One of those obviously being the Super Bowl. What I found to be weirdly moving was the fact that Gaga chose to perform the song from Top Gun: Maverick as the powerful ballad to unite us all. But then again, as I stated before, the movie did make me feel more American than I ever had before.
Playing at a piano in the center of Bourbon Street, Gaga gave a moving performance with people singing along to the song around her.
Call me a sap or call me someone who loves the movies too much but I do think it is powerful to see what a song from a Tom Cruise movie can represent. It brings us hope, joy, and is really a testament to what being an American is. Or maybe that’s just how I felt after seeing Maverick in theaters.
Nothing more American than shutting down Bourbon Street for Maverick
It is hard to explain the overwhelming need to scream “MURICA” that can come over an American. Often, it happens when you’re mad at the country you do love. Typically, I hear that eagle screeching and feel the red, white, and blood coursing through my veins during the Olympics or when Britain tries to say something about us.
But I also felt it when I watched Top Gun: Maverick for the first time. And again when I saw it in 4DX. And again when I watched it on a plane and on my couch and…well, you get the picture. There is just something so warming about feeling proud of a country you’re not often proud of. We have so many issues taking over here in the States right now that seeing Gaga perform this song in particular at the Super Bowl reminded me that I do love being an American, even if I’m mad at our country right now.
Because when it matters, we come together to help each other. We support those states who were hurt by disaster, we cheer each other on at silly sports games because that’s just who we are as a country. And I am glad that no matter where I am in this world, the minute I think about Top Gun: Maverick, I am ready to start chanting “USA USA USA,” even if it is the middle of Bourbon Street on Super Bowl Sunday.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
