# 7/4 is around the corner. Do you like patriotic songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820 "2020-06-30T17:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/1 "2020-06-30T17:44:21Z")
These days, Comcast’s “Sounds of the Season” music channel is belting out the songs one would expect to hear at a July 4th fireworks show. Lots of Sousa/Williams instrumental marches, but in between lots of other songs with lyrics: “when Johnny comes marching home,” “proud to be an American,” “Arlington,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, and so on. The marches are fun, but the other songs are just…cringy to me. Propaganda-like, made for indoctrination. Reminds me of church hymns, which made me comparably uncomfortable when I was a kid. How do you feel about patriotic songs? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/2 "2020-06-30T18:56:54Z")
Watching people obsess over their favorite sports team is cringy to me. Singing along with the band at a Fourth of July celebration is fun. Yeah, they’re propaganda. So what? Protest songs are also propaganda. “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was propaganda for a very good cause. ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/3 "2020-06-30T19:26:14Z")
I like patriotic songs. I’m getting pretty sick of the country though. Last 3 years I said no fuckstick is stealing my July 4th from me. This year I honestly don’t give a shit, can’t be over soon enough, all I care about is Nov 3. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/4 "2020-06-30T21:36:24Z")
Sousa is good. Williams is good. Anything even remotely country-ish is banned from my planet. If the piece is anything someone wearing a cowboy, trucker or baseball hat/cap anywhere in the Solar system could possibly be singing, humming, kazoo-ing or hand-jiving, it is to be purged. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/5 "2020-06-30T21:38:07Z")
I thought this thread was going to be about patriotic songs written in 7/4 time. Are there any? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/6 "2020-06-30T22:03:07Z")
As said, the Sousa marches are fun, particularly when played by a good marching band. But some of the songs, particularly God Bless the U.S.A. (aka Proud to Be an American), are _really_ awful. The older ones, like Battle Hymn of the Republic and When Johnny Comes Marching Home are OK but kind of dated. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/7 "2020-07-01T01:51:28Z")
Patriotic songs leave me cold, always have. I’ve always loved Sousa, for the music itself. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/8 "2020-07-01T02:23:39Z")
“You know, I wish I had somebody to help me sing this!” ~Ray Charles [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BhJwXwXDijQ/maxresdefault.jpg "America The Beautiful") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhJwXwXDijQ) And of course, Jimi: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwIymq0iTsw) ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/9 "2020-07-01T02:35:17Z")
When I was young they were kind of fun to bang out on a piano (some hymns too, regardless of the words). Most of Sousa is great (Liberty Bell will remind you of a certain British show). I played French horn which always got the worst part - off beat quarter notes. We usually just transposed the trumpet part so it was more fun to play. Our college band did visits to high schools across the state, inviting the HS band director to direct Stars & Stripes Forever. When it got to the piccolo part in the end, they got a surprise when the tuba section stood up and played that part instead. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/11 "2020-07-01T06:48:25Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > I thought this thread was going to be about patriotic songs written in 7/4 time. Are there any?? How about making [Money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbbuaIA3Ds) the official song of the U.S. Department of the Treasury? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/12 "2020-07-01T11:02:57Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > (Liberty Bell will remind you of a certain British show) That show is all I can think of, every single time I hear that song, no matter the context. ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/13 "2020-07-01T15:17:18Z")
My dad turns 94 on the 4th. He’s a graduate of the Naval Academy and when I was a kid, he used to play Sousa marches on the 4th. We particularly enjoyed the Washington Post, and I attach a particularly crisp version, which explains why it was composed and how it got its name. It’s been many years since we’ve listened to this, and so I think I’ll surprise him with a Sousa concert on Saturday. Thanks OP for the inspiration! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mxrh1CrMmTY/maxresdefault.jpg "SOUSA The Washington Post - "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxrh1CrMmTY) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/14 "2020-07-01T15:47:54Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > How do you feel about patriotic songs? I don’t really care for them, but (unlike Christmas music) they’re pretty easy to ignore. I rarely hear patriotic songs and don’t notice an uptick around July 4th. I don’t think I could endure a music channel going heavy on that crap. To each his/her own, however. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/15 "2020-07-01T16:01:54Z")
As a trombonist, I fucking LOVE playing Sousa marches. Each one we did in school had some sort of new mastery level to achieve. I don’t care for “America Rah Rah” songs though. I enjoy marches from any country, for the particular musicality. “God Bless America” makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/16 "2020-07-01T17:42:20Z")
We have an Independence Day ritual here – we play The Star Spangled Banner on the stereo twice. The Jimi Hendrix version and the Spirit version. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/17 "2020-07-01T17:45:31Z")
Some of them (I also like some hymns, too.) Most of the country-pop ones are horrible - as bad as “Proud to be an American” is, it is only ordinarily bad for that group of songs. But I like the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic and especially of America the Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/18 "2020-07-01T18:51:30Z")
From the dusty closet space in the back of my head, memories of this awful patriotic song we had to learn when I was a 4th grader — There’s a new flag flying o’er America A new flag proudly waves A new flag flying o’er America The land of the free and the brave Old Glory now boasts fifty starts In a field of blue Alaska and Hawaii We welcome both of you There’s a new flag flying o’er America A new flag flies today Alaska and Hawaii Welcome to the USA! NOTE: I was in fourth grade in freaking 1969. I suspect the teacher had been methodically teaching this song to 4th graders year after year for ten years and, if still teaching elementary school now at the estimated age of 105, would still be teaching it to them now. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/19 "2020-07-01T21:38:38Z")
I guess all the radio stations around here have the same album of patriotic songs and trot it out on July 4, because I always hear the same songs. One of them is _76 Trombones._ You know, from _The Music Man_. Because nothing inspires patriotism more than a Broadway show tune! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/20 "2020-07-01T21:57:38Z")
The 4th is part of the movie timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820/21 "2020-07-01T22:14:48Z")
Does that mean _Shipoopi_ is a patriotic song? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-4-is-around-the-corner-do-you-like-patriotic-songs/913820.md?page=2)