Posted on 07/02/2009 10:21:46 AM PDT by NYer
And if you’re drunk, you don’t CARE!
Allon Gay Bergeres "Come, happy shepherdesses", Guillaume Costeley (1530-1606).
It's a beautiful little Christmas carol -- but it's tough because it does things that modern music doesn't do, and it goes FAST. If you so much as pause to say to yourself, "Oh, (*&^*^%*^~!" you are instantly 2 measures behind and will NEVER catch up.
Not to mention that it's sung in archaic French . . . and I don't even speak modern French.
If people sang more, easy stuff like the NA wouldn't seem so hard to them. For heaven's sake, just sing along with the RADIO!
Those are the best darned reasons I’ve heard yet.
And it was actually adopted in 1916.
As for lawyers, SOMEBODY had to defend Sam Houston!
Often drunkenly and badly, but that's infinitely better than not at all. And the "Anacreontic Hymn" was probably mostly sung by drunks.
The rest of 'em were singing "The Ball of Kirriemuir" or "The Sea Crab" or equivalents. "The Bastard King of England" is of relatively recent vintage.
I had a standing invitation to dinners with the local Rugby Club because I knew all those songs, words and music, including of course "The Rugby Song".
This was in my life B.C. . . . Before Children. My kids have no idea I know all these things.
Interesting point of view. Thank you.
Thanks for posting this second verse. I have to admit, I have never heard it before. Perhaps the above phrase is the reason why ;-)
I take it you're not a hockey fan. The Philadelphia Flyers were extremely superstitious. When they found themselves pinned against the wall, they would play a recording of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America". I will never forget watching the 7th game in the semi-final round against the NY Islanders. The Flyers flew Kate Smith in from Connecticut, rolled out the red carpet on the ice and sent her out to sing the song LIVE. They won!
Bates and Coman were "activists" and "reformers" in their day. Whether they were socialists (like Francis Bellamy who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance) or not would also be hard to say.
Back when you had child labor and 12 hour working days a lot of people were socialists. People who were around earlier (like Key) or later (like us) were less likely to be. But changing the national anthem now would certainly be sending a signal to today's leftists.
..as well as sing it with the teleprompter on.
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