Posted on 07/03/2010 12:37:51 PM PDT by jackspyder
What is the greatest Independence Day song of all time? ... I suspect The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key would be the #1 choice; however there are others not nearly as well known. One of those songs is actually entitled Independence Day from the 1990 album Powerhouse by the Christian rock group Whiteheart. (whose concert tours included stops at UTA, Six Flags, and other DFW locations) If you never heard this band, or this song, you are in for a treat.
... two videos: The first one is the actual audio recording which includes an intro not found on the second video version. Be sure to turn your speakers up in order to hear that first minute of dialog which focuses on a small child at a 4th of July parade who asks his daddy about freedom. An actual recording of Martin Luther King Jr. helps answer his innocent question as the listener is segued into the song. Please listen and read the lyrics as you go along ...
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Not that awesome if the link doesn’t take you to the song..........
Aside from the National Anthem, I like Stars and Stripes Forever.
PS As an aside, somebody should tell Yankee fans that God Bless America is not the National Anthem. They don’t need to hold their hats over their hearts, just be silent as in a prayer.
A show of respect is not a bad thing, even if not quite proper. And singing along is good, too, if you can pull off the notes!
As our enemies have found we can reason like men, so now let us show them we can fight like men also.
Thomas Jefferson
OK - But I just don’t want people confused about which is the National Anthem like they are confused about who we fought for Independence. Regards,
Me too. See post #7.
Ray Charles’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” is one of my favorites. The director of the movie The Sandlot used it to great effect in one of the scenes.
Stars and Stripes Forever! Best song!
Thanks and a well done ping!
Although written several years before the American Revolution, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was universally popular among both the rebels and British soldiers during the War.
Legend has it that the song first appeared as a nursery rhyme ridiculing England's Oliver Cromwell as "Nankee Doodle."
In America the song surfaced during the French and Indian War when the colonials joined forces with General Braddock at Niagara. The colonials were a motley crew, wearing furs and buckskins. British surgeon Richard Schuckburg during that war reportedly substituted new words for the old Cromwell song, changing Nankee to Yankee, making fun of the Americans fighting alongside the British troops.
In the song: "Doodle" refers to "a sorry trifling fellow. A fool or simpleton." "Dandy," on the other hand, refers to "a gentleman of affected manners, dress and hairstyle." "Macaroni" was not a reference to the pasta but to "a fancy style of Italian dress imitated in England at the time."
The song expressed the perception of the British that a colonial could stick a feather in his coonskin cap and think he was as fashionable as any European. Thus the song was a parody proclaiming the colonials as country bumpkins.
Though the song held them up to ridicule, the colonials adopted the song as their own. Countless versions evolved, as many as 190 verses in all. In a display of irony.... when the British surrendered their forces at Yorktown to end the War, their band played "The World Turned Upside Down." The Americans played "Yankee Doodle."
The colonials may have been an army of ragtag farmers — under-equipped, under-clothed and rarely paid. But they defeated the largest, most powerful army in Europe to gain their freedom.
Ditto. Yankee Doodle Dandy has my vote.
I always think of Jimmy Cagney when I hear that great song
I`ve got an aunt that thinks she can sing God Bless America like Kate Smith but no one ever said different..I wince a bit in spots tho
I also like "Yankee Rose" by the Revelers (1927), also recorded by Roger Wolfe Kahn and Sam Lanin; "She's Old Glory" and "The Red We Want (is the Red We've Got in the old Red White & Blue)" by Hugo Winterhalter, both from 1950. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find recordings of these.
On the plus side, they play a medley of the anthems for the four armed services plus the coast guard.
On the minus side, they think that "I Want To Live In America" from West Side Story is a song worth playing to fireworks on Independence Day.
-PJ
“Stars and Stripes Forever” is the 4th of July song to me. Don’t know why — just is. Don’t think about it much the rest of the year.
For most of my life I’ve heard criticisms of our National Anthem — it’s too hard to sing, it should be replaced by “America the Beautiful” or “God Bless America,” etc. Well, it can be a challenge to sing, but the real problem with it is soloists who drag out every vowel in “hey, everybody, look at me” fashion. It’s a great and stirring tune when played by an orchestra, as during the medal ceremonies at the Olympics. I think we should just ban soloists from singing it at public events. Play the song and just let the crowd sing it, or get a choir or a quartet. But NO soloists.
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