Is “Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo”, the version with Johnny Winter.
I tear up every time I hear it. Makes me proud to be a stoned American.

I am so down with this choice anthem.

How deeply this is in society is why Kaps protest was so powerful. Image is everything. Perception is reality.

Despite the imagery of the song - we have to claim it as a nation - and not let the military co-opt it for some weekly patriotic dick check! (re: NFL)

Sucks

I haven’t stood for it in almost 15 years. Ever since the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. It pains me that my country would blatantly ignore the Geneva Convention and conduct itself in such a manner. We have not been a good world citizen at times and it is embarrassing.

to the Iraq war B.S. and Axis of evil Bull

Hat tip to you

There were lots of folks out in March 2003 here in Seattle against the Iraq invasion. I actually was in that smaller group opposing the Afghanistan religious war too. The Afghan government asked for evidence of Bin Laden involvement in order to extradite but being ‘Murica means never having to prove it, we got the guns and bullets to just do it.

Because I'm (almost always) standing against mob/ bullying - mentality.

My ideals are for a better humanity - PERIOD!

The blessing of these times is we can clearly see the evil to stand up against.

For a national anthem whose lyrics are over the top militaristic and violent one has to look at France’s La Marseillaise.

Be very cautious of those who want to replace it with something with the word "God".

Remember, this song was about defending our country from UK in 1812, not about colonialism.

And "our military is not a bully, it is the men and women who defend us.

But your paradigm premise is flawed.

Bullets kill people when people aim & fire those bullets.

Our military personnel are caught up in the same Bullitt as the NY Fireman who scream at those who question narratives.

We allow are politicians to spew Bullitt; which costs lives!

I am a veteran. I swore the oath. And the use of our military is to support and defend the constitution.
This crap about the military defend us is nothing more than a jingoistic propaganda cowplop preventing us from criticizing the illegal missions our military gets tasked with. And the tasks that while not illegal are reprehensible and indefensible without the same bovine excrement gloss over.

that is true, you do not, as long as you do not join the service. So, exercise your free speech right and do not stand up for it. But your country is not obligated to come up with a song that you will stand up for. If we had to have a different song for everyone it would take forever to play all the different anthems.

do our part in serving the nation and each other.

Kids dying in school ate warriors w/o guns.

Children fighting, marching, unifying - are serving.

this land is my land"

Oh yeah.

And, we have the right to be part of rebellion...

When our governing are abusing.

but I don't think it's worth the effort to try to change it.

Almost every country in the world has a militaristic anthem. Look at La Marseillaise:

"To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions
Let's march, let's march
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!"

God Save the King:

"Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King."

"Il Canto degli Italiani"

"Mercenary swords, they're feeble reeds.
The Austrian eagle has already lost its plumes.
The blood of Italy and the Polish blood it drank, along with the Cossack.
But it burned its heart."

Started with Washington.

For some unknown reason WWI vets wanted the Star Spangled Banner instead.

Are honorless words

Had 2 buckets when finished

It is OUR anthem. Our National Anthem. On this point and in this post you sound like some bullshit 60s revolutionary just out to stir up shit.

Blech!

Only those who have no chance for "civil" debate - turn to bullying vernacular.

LOL

Surely then, all Nations should pick the correct song and we'll finally have peace on earth. I knew there was an easy solution.

That discussions about the hypocrisy - is unwelcome

invading force 36 years after we had declared our independence from it and fought a revolution for our right to self-governance. The British had returned to reclaim what they believed was rightfully theirs: our country and its citizens.

The only "militaristic" imagery in the anthem sets up the triumph at the conclusion; it was only because of the light created by the munitions that witnesses knew throughout the long night of September 14-15, 1814 that Fort McHenry (and the city of Baltimore) had not fallen to the British.

"And the rockets' red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there."

I don't believe I've ever heard anyone sing it to emphasize "That our flag was still there," and I'm waiting. Singers just seem to gloss right by it, like they don't understand what they're saying. That song tells a story, and that's the important part.

The lyrics (written in 1814 by an American detainee witnessing the battle and set to the tune of a popular drinking song) celebrate our fledgling republic's victory in a war whose purpose was to once again colonize our land and people. There is nothing militaristic or war mongering about them.

This sounds like rhetoric from the likes of the SLA or some other group of 60s nutters. Where did this idea even come from????

Oy vey.

Agree - with your take.

This is not a tact we are pursuing.

Problem is, the rich benefiting of our great fall

Won't be here to suffer it

I love how it proves that anthems are stupid and we're stupid for trying to make them more than that.

Very profound!

I'm not immune, nor do I believe that anthems are entirely stupid. They have their utility, but the religious fervor with which some of us treat them is pretty fucking dumb.

Even if you believe in the supremacy of your own nation, anthems are not magic spells, and you can be as reverent as you want while sitting, standing, kneeling or knitting.

I find it very moving when performed skillfully.

I also respect those who choose to protest by taking a knee while it is being sung/performed.

I loved Hendrix (Woodstock) and Satriani's (World Series) versions and, of course, Marvin Gaye. They still all did it too slow.

Last edited Sat Mar 3, 2018, 05:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been watching a series on Netflix, Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States. It starts right around WWI and then moves on to WWII and up to the present. And one of the themes it keeps coming back to is that every president since FDR (both Dems and Reps) has pushed the idea of our military being ginormous and how it needs to be to protect us. But the reality is that as a result we have indulged (my word, not Oliver's) in imperialism and wars all over the world. Now and then Oliver points to what Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex:" huge companies pushing arms sales in order to profit, kinda like Krupp in Germany many years ago. I'm sure I missed a lot, so I'm going to watch it again; it has really inspired me to read more US history, which I though was booooring in HS and college.

But we need to remember that our military only does what it's told. Sure some generals and admirals have been hawks (and some have been incompetent hawks), but, in general, they have to follow the direction given by the administration.

As far as the OP, I served in the military during the early 70s, and I had a number of friends who kept busting on me for being in the military. "How can you support this war?" and similar stuff. And I kept reminding them that I didn't support the war: I supported the country, and that the country I supported would be around long after Nixon and his crowd had rotted to dust in hell. So yeah, I stand for the anthem, and it's okay by me if the people next to me choose not to.

In the verse we use, Key never mentions the soliders in the Fort. Never mentions the Fort by name. He clearly is writing about the flag and not much else. It's not really that militaristic despite the imagery. He's not reveling in the war or shelling. He's making an observation about how all the shelling did not result in defeat.

Never in military here, but i respect your opinions on this quite a lot.

when all the BS about K kneeling was all over the news and DT was mouthing off?

What you said above (okay, except the part about me ) should have been on the front page of every last newspaper, cable TV outlet, online news channel, and billboard in the country where even DT had to see it.

But like I've been saying for years, people who sing it or hear it without listening to it have no clue what it says.

I was all in with the kneelers too. But the rabid right is so good at shifting the narrative and we still haven't adequately figured out how to counter it.

"No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent"

Back in grammar school I discovered (mostly by accident) a way to let bullies know I wasn't interested: just ignore them. Things might be different nowadays, but I've used this same technique in various situations and found it still works a good chunk of the time.

Personally I think the Repugnants are getting too much attention.

I'm quite outspoken about my liberalism and regarding my disdain for republicans, especially in the last 25 years. (And i was a big critic of Reagan too, and unafraid to speak my mind.) Just that in the last 25 years, they've gotten ever worse.

At the Olympics - did they use I vocal version? - I can't remember and this computer doesnt have sound

Wtf

P R I C E L E S S......

In the same sense that America is my country. I want it to start doing good and think a lot of humility would be a good thing, but I can't pretend that those sorts of symbols don't mean anything to me, or mean something negative to me.

I could of course understand how someone might react to it very differently than I would.

Bryant

I attend dozens of sporting events per year. Our anthem allows too many different ways for it to be sung. Currently the younger generations hate it when the song is delivered traditionally. I hear it at every college basketball game I attend. If someone sings the anthem without exaggerating and elongating key words to end a verse, the young people sitting next to me don't like it at all. They'll wait until song's end and say something like, "I nope they never bring her back."

But if the singer takes all the closing notes to absurd extreme and drags out everything, then throughout the song and particularly near the end the crowd goes always goes wild. The caliber of singing doesn't matter at all in comparison to whether or not the duration and decibel level is pumped up at least 25 or 50% beyond the norm.

I get so jealous at other anthems that are dependably sung at the same pace without all the ridiculous extravagance.

not to the words and the story being told.

I'm with you there. I hate listening to it at the ball park. It totally loses the point of being there.