What's your favorite patriotic song?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 1cthlctrth
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
WORLD WAR II PATRIOTIC SONGS

American Patrol - by Glenn Miller


"The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" - The Andrews Sisters
 
Last edited:
Irishmom2 said:
“Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.
Click to expand...
One of my daughters competed (figure skating) with that Copland music (Hoedown, or “the beef music!”) on the advice of a ballet teacher who said, “It’s the best music to skate or dance to.”

She competed at around noon–lunchtime, and did a nice program, but only 2 double jumps, far short of what the other skaters in the group completed (most landed all the doubles through the double lutz).

But she got 2nd place! Out of around 14 skaters!

To this day, we all believe (and so does she!) that she won that medal because the music made the judges hungry for a big juicy steak for lunch–and they knew their lunch break was coming up after that event, and they rewarded the anticipated steak rather than the skate!

😆

Although to be fair, my daughter did do a lovely program, and had beautiful deep edges (still does, over 25 years later!).
 
Last edited:
I remember going to see some performance of Copland at Oxford around the time those Beef ads were running. My favorite ad was the one where it showed people in all different cities eating different beef dishes finishing up with the hefty guy in Chicago rocking his baby twins while he ate a steak at the same time (That was some mad skills there). Anyway I didn’t realize that music was Copland, and when the Oxford orchestra launched into the Beef song I almost laughed out loud, especially since it was right in the middle of the Mad Cow epidemic and there was almost no beef to be had anywhere in Oxford all summer, to the point where I got so anemic eating fish and vegetarian food that I almost passed out sitting in an armchair in a professor’s office.

Sure was glad to get back to Amurrica, where BEEF is what’s for dinner : )
 
Good call on the Sousa marches, Glenn Miller’s “American Patrol” and the “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”.

There are also lots of songs that aren’t so patriotic but they remind me of various aspects of American life. Most of them are controversial nowadays or even hated by segments of the population but I like them anyway.
  • America - Simon and Garfunkel
  • The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - Joan Baez (actually written by a Canadian, Robbie Robertson, who quit playing it because he didn’t like Joan’s version that was a big hit)
  • Made in America - Toby Keith (Virtually all my friends hate Toby Keith)
  • Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
  • North American Scum - LCD Soundsystem (this is my theme song when I go to Europe)
  • The Immigrant - Neil Sedaka
  • Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Will never forget being at Flea World near Orlando FL in the late 80s and watching guys whip off their hats and put them over their hearts when this came on the loudspeakers)
 
My wife thought of another Fourth staple by playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, after a lot of Sousa, of course.
 
pnewton said:
My wife thought of another Fourth staple by playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, after a lot of Sousa, of course.
Click to expand...
Oh, such good memories!

When we lived in Raleigh, North Carolina during the 1980s, every year on July 4th, there would be a community celebration at the Fairgrounds, usually attended by thousands of people. SO fun!–lizard races, free watermelon, other food (we had to pay for that, or you could bring your own), exhibits, and at the end of the day, everyone would gather on the lawn (a BIG lawn!) to watch a massive fireworks display.

During the few hours while everyone was gathering, a full band would play all kinds of great music (including the Stars and Stripes Forever!), and most of us just chatted or danced around or ate or watched our kids make friends with all the other kids–

–until the band started playing the 1812 Overture–that was always the last song they played before the fireworks started.

The excitement in the crowd was overwhelming when that music started–everyone gathered up their kids and cleaned up their food, spread out the blankets, and listened, and at the end of the piece, those wonderful cannons were fired (no cannonballs), and the first of the fireworks started–GLORIOUS!

I am so glad I have these memories of an unapologetically stirring celebration–there’s nothing like a Fourth of July celebration in a state capital city.
 
Last edited:
I was going to also throw in Bowie’s “Young Americans” and “I’m Afraid of Americans” but I thought that might be going a bit far for this forum.
 
I think Paul Simon’s American Tune fits in this category. I like it, borrowed melody and all, but it’s certainly not a feel-good patriotic song. It’s more reflective, which can also be a good thing.
 
National Emblem March by Edwin Bagley


Washington Post March by John Philip Sousa

 
Last edited:
Here’s an American classic not yet mentioned: Don McLean, American Pie, all 8 minutes of it!
 
Last edited:
Love that Sousa, And will raise you one! 😉

I cannot listen to this without remembering attending my son’s graduation in the Marine Corp at Paris Island. It was an amazing sight to hear this playing, and see waves after wave of Marines coming from the distance on their way to the parade grounds. If anyone ever has the opportunity to attend graduation, do not miss it. It will take your breath away.

 
Unfortunately, they “caught the last train to the coast…” 🙂
I always remember when, as a teen, I was blasting the song in my room and my mom came in quite angry and shut the record down because she considered that line blasphemous…
 
Peeps said:
BUT…when EVERYONE sings together, it works. The altos and basses get to sing out strong during the open phrases when the melody drops low, and then the sopranos and tenors can take over when the melody climbs into the stratosphere! Even the trebles can join in throughout the anthem!

It’s such a wonderful analogy of the United States of America, where EVERYONE has to join in to make our country work and be a great place to live!
Click to expand...
Great point. I had never thought of it in those terms.

I always make it a point to sing loud and proud when the anthem is played before a sporting event in honor of my dad, a WW II veteran (unless it’s a solo, of course). I can’t hit half the notes with any grace so my volume instinctively drops on the very high and very low notes and comes back with the medium range notes. But aside from a few really talented people who can hit all the notes, it takes a group of us to make it work.

Thanks for bringing that up. Have a happy 4th of July! 👍
 
God Bless The USA - by Lee Greenwood


This Is My Country


The Girl I Left Behind Me


Garryowen Regimental March of the 7th Cavalry


Kingdom Coming by Henry Clay Work 1862
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top