Should we push Obama to change the national anthem, while we're changing everything else?

[bushmeister0]

I've had to endure that drunkin' durge twice today before both football games and I'm thinking there are so many other great songs, that are easier to sing, that would be better. (And less militaristic.)

America the Beautiful comes to mind, or, perhaps, This Land is My Land, for starters.

Serioulsy, I cringe every time I hear someone sing that song, knowing they're sure to blow at least one note. It's such a poorly constructed song. It may have sounded great when they were getting bombed at the Anacreontic Society, but it's just a car wreck of a song. Really!

[Tuesday_Morning]

1. That'd be great, wouldn't it?

[FrenchieCat]

2. Excellent!

Cause there is simply not enough to do as it is.

[bushmeister0]

3. Certainly not!

Let the invisible hand of the markets handle the economy and let the government focus on coming up with some better music to hear at sporting events. That's the only thing government is good for! (sarcasm)

[Davis_X_Machina]

4. Years ago...

...at the dawn of the Web, there was a site promoting "We Shall Overcome".

I've heard it sung all over the world, including on the BBC, in Irish, during the early days of the Troubles in Ulster, and in !Xhosa in South Africa, everywhere.

I teach it in Latin, a hand-me-down from some anonymous Classics grad student from, I believe Columbia, who worked on the Freedom Summer.

It's our gift to the world -- like the Statue of Liberty in reverse.

[trayfoot]

5. NO on changing the national anthem!

[charlie]

7. Wouldn't bother me

It's ponderous, mediocre, and outside the singing range of most people.

[bushmeister0]

6. I just had a better idea! "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett!

Now there's an anthem for the Bush Era!

[Arkana]

23. I thought Thin Lizzy wrote that.

[spanone]

8. hokey pokey?

it's what it's all about.....

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. Anti Catholic Song

That's what that song all about.

I go for 'This Land"

[valerief]

16. Boooooooooring. nt

[JackRiddler]

30. Jesus H.

Now there's a bit of victimology trivia I didn't need to learn today.

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2008/12/catholic...

Monday, December 22, 2008

Catholic leaders say ‘Hokey Cokey’ is 'faith hate'

As Cranmer read this report in The Herald, he did wonder if today were April 1st. But it is true enough, and all inextricably tied up with Scottish sectarianism and the interminable feud between Rangers and Celtic.

Yet it is curious that ‘senior Catholics’ have entered the fray, with Peter Kearney, a spokesman for Cardinal Keith O'Brien, declaring that it was a Puritan song with ‘quite disturbing origins’.

Well, there are some - not least AC Grayling - who are persuaded that the Roman Catholic Church has ‘quite disturbing origins’, but they are not calling for it to be proscribed.

And since when did the Puritans write songs?

The Cardinal’s office says the song is ‘anti-Catholic’, adding that ‘it was devised as an attack on, and a parody of, the Catholic mass. If there are moves to restore its more malevolent meaning then consideration should perhaps be given to its wider use’.

Is the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland seriously suggesting that ‘malevolent’ football chanting should lead to the song being banned at all parties?

SNIP

---

Dear god, the highly offensive lyrics are on a CHILDREN'S site - children's ice cream, Mandrake!

http://bussongs.com/songs/hokey_pokey.php

You put your right foot in,
You put your right foot out,
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your left foot in,
You put your left foot out,
You put your left foot in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your right hand in,
You put your right hand out,
You put your right hand in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your left hand in,
You put your left hand out,
You put your left hand in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your right shoulder in,
You put your right shoulder out,
You put your right shoulder in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your left shoulder in,
You put your left shoulder out,
You put your left shoulder in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your right hip in,
You put your right hip out,
You put your right hip in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your left hip in,
You put your left hip out,
You put your left hip in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your whole self in,
You put your whole self out,
You put your whole self in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.


You might also be interested in some other Activity Songs

Our visitors have told us that you can also put the following things "in":
Your head
Your "fuzzy" head
Your back side
Your knees
Your elbows (really?)
Your blood and body of Savior

Okay, I cheated - last bit I added myself.

[bushmeister0]

31. Wow. This thread has sure taken a strange turn.

The Hokey Pokey, huh?

Please tell me Wholly Bully is kosher!

[Jack Rabbit]

9. I recall the late David Brinkley once suggesting

. . . that the world's oldest democracy ought to have a national anthem everybody can sing.

[JerseygirlCT]

10. It's a killer to sing

And I agree, America the Beautiful is better.

But I think Obama's got his plate more than full with things that ultimately matter a whole lot more!

[Bluzmann57]

11. No

There are more important things to worry about. Besides, what's wrong with the anthem we have?

[bushmeister0]

12. Go to an NHL game and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The difference in quality between the SPB and "Oh Canada" couldn't be more stark.

[valerief]

17. They should stop playing national anthems at spectator sporting events.

I'd actually like it if they stopped spectator sporting events. People should play sports, not watch them.

[valerief]

14. Only if it's a jazz song. Otherwise, why bother? nt

[Ten Bears]

15. God Bless America should be the new national anthem

And the first time it should be performed as the national anthem should be a Kate Smith recording.

[valerief]

18. I trust that's sarcasm. nt

[elocs]

19. I wonder, how much success has anyone had in pushing Obama to do anything he didn't want to do?

I don't think he takes pushing well.

[Bjorn Against]

20. This Land is My Land already is the national anthem in my eyes.

It would be great to make it official though, I would just love to see what would happen when the freepers actually figured out what the song was actually about. It might take them a while to get it because they are not too bright, but maybe after singing it several times eventually it would click and their heads would explode mid-verse.

[bushmeister0]

22. Maybe, being such a big country and all, we should have two anthems?

One for Sarah Palin's Amerika and one for the rest of us.

Now, what song would they have as an anthem? Probably some Toby Keith piece of crap.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

21. No..speaking as a foreigner I think the US national anthem

Is one of the most beautiful in the world. Besides, Obama may have some more important things to do -there's this little economy thing and something or other going on in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza.

[Peacetrain]

24. No.. too many serous things to tackle.. we are in a economic

crisis not seen since the great depression, and two hot wars. Wasting political juice on changing the anthem is not needed.

[bushmeister0]

26. Whoa everybody, I wrote this with tongue firmly in cheek.

I realize Obama's got other things to worry about.

I really do hate that song, though.

[Peacetrain]

27. Oh.. I see,

America the Beautiful is a much better song by the way.. (I thought you were being serious, sorry about that)

[truth2power]

25. i can't stand the national anthem, for all the reasons you mentioned...

It's practically impossible to sing, unless you have operatic training.

And the part about bombs bursting in air makes me physically ill. In today's world that would mean fuel-air explosives or cluster bombs. Is this what we want to define us as a country? I think not.

How about this:

America, America.
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control.
Thy liberty in law.

Ah! That we could be a country that even claims to have a soul, after what those monsters Cheney and Bush have inflicted on us these past 8 years.

[bushmeister0]

28. Wow, that's very idealistic!

Let's get real.

America, America
God gave you bombs to use
With F-16s and Stealth b-2s
With blessed shock and awe

[Eric Condon]

29. I don't know about you, but this will always be MY national anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MIr-S6mwFk


"Bunch of bombs in the air, gave proof through the night that we still had our flag."