No “Joke”: Brandi Carlile is one of the few vocalists out there with so powerhouse of a voice, she could almost be considered overqualified to sing “America the Beautiful.” That’s what she’ll be doing just prior to Super Bowl LX kicking off on Sunday, and although it is not always considered to be as demanding as its patriotic twin, “The Star Spangled Banner,” Carlile promises that she’ll be performing it at the upper end of her range, which may mean that this seemingly gentler song will have its own bombs bursting in air, musically speaking.

What does it mean to her to be singing “America the Beautiful,” though, at a time where not everyone in the country is thinking beautiful thoughts about the state of the nation? Carlile has thought plenty about that, as you’d expect from someone with such a history of activism. It means something to her to be on the biggest stage the world has to offer as a representative of the queer community, and she’s also mindful that the historic song itself was co-written by a woman believed by many to be gay. Most of all, she is tuned in to the lyrics, which, if you’ve ever really read through them all, are more aspirational than triumphal. While “America the Beautiful” may never get officially adopted as the national anthem, as some have suggested over the years, it’s a song anyone who believes in the promise of America could, and maybe should, sing.

Variety spoke with Carlile on Friday as she prepared for her worldwide TV moment Sunday… with scant time to be too focused on a global arena tour that begins just two days later.