“You know what? I wasn’t aware that flyovers weren’t as close to the audience as I previously thought, and they don’t perform any dangerous acrobatics like they do at an air show. Sorry for the confusion.”
Fixed that for you.
I’m a first chair trombonist and I love playing “Stars and Stripes Forever.” It’s got an awesome trombone part. Every Sousa song has an awesome trombone part. You get to play very low and very high, very fast and very slow, and most importantly very soft and very loud. The trombone parts in this song and “Sleigh Ride” really slap. (Nothing is better than “Volga Boatman” but this is an American thread!)
Towards the end of Charles III’s coronation, after the royal family came out on the balcony there was a limited flyover – helicopters-only due to the weather – and everybody looked up except Charles and Camilla. One of the commentators said, “It’s the price of wearing a crown.”
It is amazing the type of absolute crap even the simplist statement can trigger from people on the internet. You can tell whatever kind of worthless idiotic lies you wish about what you want me to have said, given what you have said, I don’t think I will lose much sleep over the lies.
I don’t know if it is Americana but the climax of “Thus Spake Zarathustra” has a similar spine chilling effect. My cousin played tympani in the Navy Band and the Naval Academy Band and he said playing that song was the best feeling ever.Those kettle drum guys don’t get to stand out too often.
Everybody should love “Stars & Stripes Forever”… as long as you’re not hearing it while in a circus audience. Then it means something has gone wrong.
And then as we all looked up to see the flyover the planes began to fall, crashing into the thread, setting it on fire. Oh! The humanity!
My college had a tradition where the piccolo part of Stars and Stripes Forever gets played by the tuba section. When we toured area high schools and other colleges, we would have their directors conduct that piece. The look on their faces when they cued the piccolos but hear tubas playing the part was priceless; they were usually baffled at first, and would then break out in a big smile.
Moderating:
Both, dial back the snark. You’ve made this entirely too personal. @Munch, you were also engaging in baiting. Knock it off. @Darren_Garrison, don’t call other posters liars. You know this is against board rules.
No warnings issued.
I’m fairly sure Mr. Springsteen meant “Born in the USA” as a satire on the mindless killing of Vietnamese people during your pointless war there.
That, for me, works as real patriotism, but I doubt much of the US population would agree if they bothered to listen to more than just the chorus.
It’s not a satire, it’s open criticism.
And it’s not really about Vietnam - it’s a protest song about young working-class Americans who were sent to a pointless war and then came home to unemployment and ultimately, prison. The lyrics are very clear.
They will agree no matter what the rest of the lyrics are because chanting YOU-ESS-AY. The power of mindless intonation overcomes all reason.
Why is this quintessentially American? We do it all the time in the UK at major events.
What the hell was that?
I love this!
The lyrics to The Stars and Stripes Forever are so often overlooked. It may surprise you to know they’re in German. (Can someone please translate ? I’m dying to know.)
I thought everybody learned the lyrics in second grade: “Be kind to your web-footed friends/For a duck might be somebody’s moooootherrrr…”
My favorite version of “Stars and Stripes Forever” was on a TV special called I love Liberty.
Hal Linden had one set of lyrics, to the tune of the tubas.
Michele Lee had another set of lyrics, to the tune of the piccolos.