Are You Talking About the Queen Again? On Independence Day?

Our new least favorite columnist, Gersh Kuntzman, has decided to go after "God Bless America" on Independence Day weekend.
Part of my outrage stems from ponderous Mussolini-esque introduction of the song, when fans are asked to rise, remove their caps and place them over their hearts.

Reality check, friends: “God Bless America” is not the National Anthem. The only songs Americans should stand for are “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Here Comes the Bride.”
Nice to hear that you're willing to stand for "The Star Spangled Banner," Mr. Kuntzman. I assumed from your last column that the mere mention of rockets and bombs would send you ducking for cover.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmP9LvHgcaA

America the Beautiful
By Katharine Lee Bates, 1913

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

Anonymous said...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWEULy-iMqE

"God Bless America"

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her,
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains, to the praries,
to the oceans, white with foam,
God Bless America,
My home sweet home.
God Bless America,
My home sweet home
God Bless America
From the mountains, to the prairies,
to the oceans, white with foam,
God Bless America,
My home sweet home.
God Bless America,
My home sweet home.

Anonymous said...

and my wife ( From Mississippi) made my son learn to play Dixie on the piano and the fiddle!
Its part of our heritage! I love all of it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUjLE_N1Cuc

Dixie's Land" (1859)
Lyrics by: Daniel Decatur Emmett

I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times dar am not forgotten,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
In Dixie Land whar' I was born in,
Early on one frosty mornin',
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

CHORUS:
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie;
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Old Missus marry Will-de-weaber,
Willium was a gay deceaber; Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
But when he put his arm around 'er
Smiled as fierce as a forty-pounder,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

CHORUS:
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie;
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver,
But dat did not seem to greab 'er;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
Old Missus acted the foolish part,
And died for a man dat broke her heart,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

CHORUS:
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie;
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Now here's a health to the next old Missus,
And all the gals dat want to kiss us;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
But if you want to drive 'way sorrow,
Come and hear dis song to-morrow,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

CHORUS:
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie;
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Dar's buckwheat cakes an' Injun batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter;
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
Den hoe it down and scratch your grabble,
To Dixie's land I'm bound to trabble,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

CHORUS:
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
In Dixie land, I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie;
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.
Category




Ymar Sakar said...

This is what happens when you give Leftist "journalists" a resource to get fame from. They are like roaches.

Grim said...

Anon:

You've got good taste in music, but you're still going to need to come up with a handle. You don't have to do anything different, except sign your posts.

"Mississippi" will do, in honor of your wife. There was a good John Wayne movie with a character called that -- El Dorado, I think.

Anonymous said...

OK
Mississippi

J Melcher said...

Then, there's Irving Berlin's Army song:

"I've been a soldier quite a while And I would like to state
The life is simply wonderful The Army food is great

I sleep with ninety-seven others in a wooden hut
I love them all They all love me It's very lovely -- BUT

Oh! How I hate to get up in the morning
Oh! How I'd love to remain in bed ..."

A song for which, if one does NOT stand, a drill sergeant comes around and rolls your cot sideways.


Anonymous said...

St. Cecilia Children's Choir performs "God Bless America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv-5Qs8K8uk

Grim
Believe it or not, I married my Mississippi wife
in this very St. Cecilia's Church from where the St. Cecilia Children's Choir is from.

and her birthday falls on July 4th.

- Mississippi

Anonymous said...

That creepy essayist has decided that being unpatriotic is "fresh," and gives him something different to say. This is his brand. It's how he makes his money.

It is fairly common today for people who have nothing worthwhile to say to turn to being deliberately obnoxious.

Valerie

Anonymous said...

PS: I think it's really cool that so many of our patriotic songs are prayers for Divine guidance so that our actions are worthy. I like the sense of responsibility, and humility.

Valerie

Assistant Village Idiot said...

We stand for our Alma Mater hymns. We stand for the Hallelujah Chorus. Hell, we stand for "I'm a Little Teapot," and "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes."

Grim said...

And the Hokey-Pokey.

Grim said...

"Believe it or not, I married my Mississippi wife
in this very St. Cecilia's Church from where the St. Cecilia Children's Choir is from.

"and her birthday falls on July 4th."

I believe it. I know a fellow whose son was born on his wedding anniversary -- a very happy coincidence given the ease with which he now remembers both occasions.

Anonymous said...

The opening to "God Bless America" is rarely done, but appropriate:
When the storm clouds gather far across the sea
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free.
let us all be grateful for a land so fair
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer:

God bless America . . ."

Irving Berlin's parents fled to the US to escape the pogroms in Russia. He started writing what would become 'God Bless America' but set it aside for a while. The events of 1938 prompted him to finish it and publish.

LittleRed1

Ymar Sakar said...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_%27Tis_of_Thee

Lyrics
1. Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
2. Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
3. Oh, beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.
4. Oh, beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.


If America is exceptional, it is only because of being on the moral path of righteousness, aided by God or the equivalent patriarchy under authority of. A moral people produce a moral and righteous government, under a just law.



That's what it means for God's grace to rest upon a country. That country has a king and a power, but not all it is mortal in our planetary sense. When there's a coup in the country and somebody else hijacks it, then they lose their foundations and benefits of what makes them exceptional.

With divine guidance, America can produce a Washington that refuses the throne of dictatorship, resisting those rebels who strength from anger at the politicians. With divine guidance, American can even win wars or defeat internal slavery. Without that divine source, America is like any normal tribal based country on this planet. With as good or bad a chance of recovering as Venezuela, Chile, Honduras, Rhodesia, South Africa.

I've seen purple mountains, although they weren't in the USA. Civilizations go up and down. They create great works due to saints, virtuous leaders, and a system based on truth. Then they fall due to materialistic decadence and power mad megalomania, both top and bottom. There is no tribe, the House of Israel included, who didn't go up and down based on how many members were on the right path.

douglas said...

LR, it's also nice to note that Irving Berlin donated the proceeds from the rights to God Bless America to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in perpetuity.

And since we're putting up patriotic lyrics- I've always been a fan of the fourth verse of the National Anthem"


Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!