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The Star-Strangled Banner (NY Times Opinion Page Says the National Anthem is "Overrated")
NY Times ^
| 4/12/2006
| Lawrence Downes
Posted on 04/12/2006 11:20:33 AM PDT by Pyro7480
click here to read article
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To: Texas Eagle
The National Anthem is sung to the tune of an old English beer drinking song?
And the Marine Fight Song is sung to the tune of a French Operetta number!
41
posted on
04/12/2006 11:37:52 AM PDT
by
Borges
To: Pyro7480
Well, the song is extremely difficult to sing, and it's true that more than half of the country doesn't know all the words. And if you don't believe that, you haven't been to a ball game lately.
The idea that the guy who wrote the tune made "land of the free" specifically difficult to sing to me is ludicrous though - musically, it's the climax of the piece which is often in music an extended high note both for contrast and drama.
That being said, I like the Star Spangled Banner but (and feel free to flame away here), I think my favorite National Anthem is Canada's. Patriotic, easy to sing, meaninful, and I really like the line, "We stand on guard for thee." And if singers can't hit the high note in the penultimate line, they can go low without compromising the song! : )
To: Michael.SF.
The reason many people do not know the words, is because you F'n liberals won't let it be taught in school!!!That's right. As a child I sang it often in school, along with "American the Beautiful" and "Of Thee I Sing". (Actually I'm not sure those titles are correct, but I darn sure know all the words to the songs!)
To: Pyro7480
an African-American character named Belize suggests that the difficulty was part of the composer's plan. "The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing," Belize insists. "He set the word 'free' to a note so high nobody can reach it." That Belize problem, he doesn't get it...it's reachable, but you got to work hard for it and work hard to keep it...it ain't a cheap "note" to reach and easy to loose
44
posted on
04/12/2006 11:38:51 AM PDT
by
tophat9000
(Illegals:”The Road to Serfdom” for the nation via Elites & Elect importing “better” serf’s)
To: Pyro7480
...would you like it better if it was sung in Spanish?
45
posted on
04/12/2006 11:38:53 AM PDT
by
Tzimisce
(How Would Mohammed Vote? Hillary for President! www.dndorks.com)
To: sinkspur
are you sure that tune is the same as God Save the Queen?
Nope - see post 20...
To: Echo Talon
The NYT is a hatchet job of a newspaper, and it won't last much longer.
They are slashing jobs, and are also having difficulty attracting advertisers.
Help spread the word reference a complete boycott of that rag.
47
posted on
04/12/2006 11:40:30 AM PDT
by
Emmet Fitzhume
("It is better to be alone than in bad company.")
To: Borges
Yikes. I hope the operetta wasn't La Cage aux Folles.
But seriously, I was at some sort of sporting event where they sang a medley of God Bless America, America (The Beautiful), and My Country 'Tis of Thee that I found thoroughly appropriate.
I would miss TSSB but I wouldn't mind if it was replaced by any or all three of those other great songs.
48
posted on
04/12/2006 11:41:34 AM PDT
by
Texas Eagle
(If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all.)
To: Pyro7480
The flag's kind of hard to draw too. Why don't we just replace it with that nice rainbow-striped one and the National Anthem with "We Are The World"?
To: Pyro7480
"America" is the alternate title.
Aha - I did not know that/ I thought "America" was the alternate title for America the Beautiful...
To: Pyro7480
There is, however, another point of view: Some of us feel that the current national anthem is not worth saving.... And Big Media wonders where the pubic gets this liberal bias stuff?
To: Texas Eagle
No it was from an Offenbach piece. 19th century inventor of the Operetta who also wrote the Can-Can.
52
posted on
04/12/2006 11:42:42 AM PDT
by
Borges
To: Polyxene
Screw America the beautiful. It contains the word God.
53
posted on
04/12/2006 11:42:56 AM PDT
by
zarf
(It's time for a college football playoff system.)
To: Billthedrill
If WATW was the National anthem, Michael Jackson would get a royalty every time it was sung!.
54
posted on
04/12/2006 11:43:21 AM PDT
by
Borges
To: Vision
Yes they do and they hate regular Americans such as you or I also. There is nothing to bad that could happen to this country and people such as post here in the eyes of these scum. They want the country broken and lots of us dead.
To: TexasCajun
The argument is an aesthetic one and many Freepers agree with it.
56
posted on
04/12/2006 11:44:13 AM PDT
by
Borges
To: Pyro7480
God Bless America is nice and all, but it was written for a WWI USO show.
I prefer the Star Spangled Banner, written on the spot by a patriotic, passionate man the morning after victory in a great battle of the War of 1812.
To: zarf
I always wanted the Rupert Holmes song "Timothy" to be the national anthem when I was in junior high.
The teachers wrote my parents that I needed counseling.
58
posted on
04/12/2006 11:44:34 AM PDT
by
zarf
(It's time for a college football playoff system.)
To: Stone Mountain
Aha - I did not know that/ I thought "America" was the alternate title for America the Beautiful... It is. I'm now, officially, confused as hell.
59
posted on
04/12/2006 11:44:59 AM PDT
by
sinkspur
(Things are about to happen that will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.)
To: Borges
Good point. OK, we shift to "Imagine"...
Oh, wait. Same problem...
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