i'd actually be jazzed to stand for the thing for once
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:52 (three years ago) link
no, we should keep "the star-spangled banner" because I think it's good, actuallyno, we should keep "the star-spangled banner" because it's bad and america deserves it
my opinion lies somewhere between these two
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:52 (three years ago) link
Having difficulty imagining singing "Lean On Me" - great as it is - before a Pirates game
― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
voted 'keep, it's good' - I'm British and we need to sort our own house out (with Jerusalem obv) before sniping at America's perfectly good anthem - TSSB has a MUCH better development/climax/resolution than GSTQ, musically speaking, and I don't see what's so bad about it. Lean On Me has too much sadness and pathos, it's an anthem for truly the end of the world, which this ideally isn't
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
keep "the star-spangled banner" because some song has to be butchered at every sports event and it might as well be that one
― jmm, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
It speaks in plain musical language, without a trace of bombast, in a tidy arrangement that unfolds over a few basic chords. It doesn’t march to a martial beat or rise to grand crescendos.
this writer truly does not understand what an anthem is
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:54 (three years ago) link
the writer makes clear that these qualities are what makes it an unorthodox choice!
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:56 (three years ago) link
America's anthem is a British drinking song w/ new words, we need a better one
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:57 (three years ago) link
^^gets it
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:57 (three years ago) link
maybe a T-Pain song with lyrics fitted from one of our less racist Founding fathers?
I'm appalled by how much I loved that Club Nouveau version as a kid.
― nashwan, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:58 (three years ago) link
i mean could you imagine what kind of people we'd have to be surrounded by if this were even remotely possible? beautiful people instead of ugly, evil people. never going to happen.
― carin' (map), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link
xpost I didn't realize that wasn't the original version until my dad's eyes bugged out when I said that thought out loud.
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link
fine, i guess the writer does understand what an anthem is...so why not find another one that fits those criteria, haha
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:01 (three years ago) link
never going to happen.
this is a poll about what should be not what could be!
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:01 (three years ago) link
How about “Lovely Day” but instead of “Lovely Day” it’s drunken frat boys chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A...”
― Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:03 (three years ago) link
all the drunken sports fans passing out trying to hold that note longer than their buddies would be a real spectacle, it's true
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:04 (three years ago) link
https://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=mNUaAMMmp1c
― neith moon (ledge), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link
damnithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNUaAMMmp1c
it occurs to me that a decent working definition of 'liberal' could be 'loves nationalism when it comes down to it tbh'
― carin' (map), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link
map otm
I think "The Star-Spangled Banner" is a good tune (I know that's a controversial opinion). It's definitely militaristic and nationalistic but that's the point of having a national anthem in the first place. "Lean On Me" is one of the best songs ever and it's thoroughly American as a song, but I don't think America has earned it as an anthem. Maybe if we were consistently a nation of sentimental liberals who have each other's back, which we're not.
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:08 (three years ago) link
xpost
― carin' (map), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:07 (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink
this aimed at me? i'm speaking purely musically here. yes the sentiments are beautiful but it isn't a feasible anthem? imagine 'imagine' was the uk anthem lol
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:10 (three years ago) link
and yeah a working definition of 'liberal' is 'can get behind the sentiments in 'lean on me''
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:11 (three years ago) link
"Lean On Me" is incredible, but would be damaged and flattened out if made official and forced into all these other contexts where the anthem shows up. whereas somehow i think "This Land Is Your Land" could survive.
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:12 (three years ago) link
I don't hate The Star-Spangled Banner as a song, but the whole point of national anthems, like nations, is that they're for dicks, which is why Lean On Me or any other song of tender humanity would be wrong
― Mein Skampf (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:13 (three years ago) link
Crut already made my point, lol sorry
― Mein Skampf (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:15 (three years ago) link
My nomination despite the Britishness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGc5h1yWHQ
― Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:17 (three years ago) link
Replace it with "Slumerican Shitizen"
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:17 (three years ago) link
if america remade itself according to the principles of "lean on me," sure
star spangled banner sucks and we've earned it
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:18 (three years ago) link
lol in the recent series of 13 Reasons Why they ended the, like, tensest episode of all with Melt The Guns and it was the worst closing-credits music choice in TV history
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:19 (three years ago) link
Lean On Me has too much sadness and pathos, it's an anthem for truly the end of the world
whut
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:20 (three years ago) link
"No Thugs In Our House" perhaps closer to the pulse of the American psyche
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:21 (three years ago) link
i just have this vision of the citizens huddling together in their caves by candlelight singing 'lean on me' as the radiation sickness picks them off one by one
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:21 (three years ago) link
Easier to imagine the end of the world than a society based on siblinghood
― Mein Skampf (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:22 (three years ago) link
anthems are for sports events and occasions of pomp and circumstance; they don't really matter but they are intended to amp up glory rather than celebrate siblinghood; if they can do both, more's the better. anthems don't really matter at the end of it and they don't really have any impact on society, but it is a fun question to think about
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
ITT some people show they didn't follow the whole "did you know there's a verse in the Star-Spangled Banner that celebrates slavery" controversy
anyway, I already recorded the real national anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9UnZUKveY
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:26 (three years ago) link
^^^^ goddamn
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:27 (three years ago) link
Lean On Your Bootstraps
― Well, that's a fine howdy adieu! (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:28 (three years ago) link
which is why my backup in case "Lean on Me" falls through is "Kill the Poor"
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
'lift every voice and sing' would be a way better choice than 'lean on me'. agreed (and great performance obv)
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
I'm aware of the verse in the original poem on which the anthem is based.
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
Reveal Your Uncool Conservative Beliefs Here fodder but "The Star-Spangled Banner" > "Lean On Me" musically speaking.
― Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
i didn't know about that verse :(
― Mein Skampf (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:31 (three years ago) link
why is there no option for "no anthems"
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:31 (three years ago) link
Give me mandatory disco sing-a-longs or give me death.
― Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:32 (three years ago) link
― Get the point? Good, let's dance with nunchaku. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:32 (twenty-one seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink
'i feel love' can be yours, and 'left to my own devices' ours, and everyone wins
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
/remembers that Eric H is Canadian, not USAmerican
― imago, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:34 (three years ago) link
Don't mean to embarrass you here but this is not actually an embed of 'Bring Out The Katz'
― nashwan, Wednesday, 15 July 2020 15:35 (three years ago) link
well that took a turn.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Saturday, 1 August 2020 04:55 (three years ago) link
I'll tell ya who else took a turn... if you know what I mean... and I mean on my dong... like as in took a turn going down on that shit... if you catch my drift... *high fives Austin*
― the burrito that defined a generation, Saturday, 1 August 2020 05:03 (three years ago) link
the burrito that defined a generation has been banned permanently again.
― the burrito that defined a generation, Saturday, 1 August 2020 05:08 (three years ago) link
*high fives Austin*
listen up, you non-social distancing asshole. . .
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Saturday, 1 August 2020 05:27 (three years ago) link
A vocal range of an octave plus a fifth is too hard to sing, let’s replace it with a song that has a vocal range of *checks notes* an octave plus a fourth
― trapped out the barndo (crüt), Saturday, 1 August 2020 14:19 (three years ago) link
it's been a minute since I listened to TSSB attentively but it's not just the range that makes it hard to sing right? aren't the intervals a pain in the ass?
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Saturday, 1 August 2020 14:25 (three years ago) link
The sentiment that "we all need somebody to lean on" is about the least American sentiment I can imagine. Is the hope that we'd help to shift the culture?
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 1 August 2020 15:12 (three years ago) link
that would be one case for it yes
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Saturday, 1 August 2020 15:18 (three years ago) link
right now, "Lien On Me" would be more likely to succeed
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 15:22 (three years ago) link
when you're not solventi'll loan you cashwith a good APR
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 15:25 (three years ago) link
Lean On In
― rob, Saturday, 1 August 2020 15:32 (three years ago) link
Not really. The intervals are all either step-wise motion or arpeggios within a major key. There’s nothing harmonically challenging in the context of Western/British music. In fact, “Lean On Me” has a larger leap in it where you have to go up a major 10th to transition from the verse to the chorus than anything in the SSB.
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Saturday, 1 August 2020 16:00 (three years ago) link
not to mention there's something to be said for a piece of music you've heard thousands to millions of times in your life making it easier to navigate the melody, regardless of how challenging it is or isn't.
most people bomb the National Anthem not because the song is challenging, it's because they either a) have bad internal pitch and change keys unintentionally throughout the song, b) pick a key too high which will result in a comedy finish, or c) just can't fuckin' sing.
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 16:03 (three years ago) link
thanks for the breakdown I was coasting on iffy recall there xp
― the quar on drugs (Simon H.), Saturday, 1 August 2020 16:04 (three years ago) link
course, I'm the type of asshole who will yell "flat!" when a quartet is singing it out of tune before a soccer game
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 16:04 (three years ago) link
I do think the aforementioned descending sixth followed by the raised subdominant in m.3 is more challenging than anything in e.g. "O Canada" or "God Save the Queen".
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Saturday, 1 August 2020 17:48 (three years ago) link
Couldn't you just go up by a major third rather than a 10th from the verse to the chorus of "Lean on Me".
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Saturday, 1 August 2020 17:51 (three years ago) link
?
The only reason it has a 'wide range' is because of the registral shift, which can easily be left out without changing anything in the key or harmony. Some notated versions already do this:https://s3.amazonaws.com/halleonard-pagepreviews/HL_DDS_12696710WwyADl52k.png
I voted keep SSB bc good btw; just don't agree that it would not be harder to sing.
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Saturday, 1 August 2020 17:58 (three years ago) link
Yeah there's really no reason to sing the first verse in the same octave as Bill does - indeed, when I play it, I do all the verses the same way. But I am not like a muso dude who knows things
― Gin and Juice Newton (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 1 August 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
song has a much greater impact starting in the lower octave, then jumping, for the first chorus.
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 18:19 (three years ago) link
Surely but it seems like it would be much easier to adapt for amateur group singing.
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Saturday, 1 August 2020 18:32 (three years ago) link
It’s definitely harder to sing just because there is a lot more going on melodically; the question was “aren’t the intervals trickier” and my answer is “not really, there are just more of them”
― shout-out to his family (DJP), Saturday, 1 August 2020 19:09 (three years ago) link
Haha OK
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Saturday, 1 August 2020 19:17 (three years ago) link
itt: several incredibly accomplished, knowledgeable, well-trained, and talented musicians exhibit very little sympathy for non-musicians
― pizzagnostic (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 1 August 2020 19:41 (three years ago) link
and then I posted some stuff too don't forget
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link
you are a very good singer tho
― pizzagnostic (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, 1 August 2020 20:00 (three years ago) link
aw thanks. tbh i wasn't knocking what you said re: starting up an octave. it's just not my personal choice if I was singing it, but...you had a good point!
i'm mostly just catty about people who sing the anthems at sporting events but only cos I'm secretly jealous that I haven't been asked to do it yet!
― XVI Pedicabo eam (Neanderthal), Saturday, 1 August 2020 20:05 (three years ago) link
A worthy addition to the anthem canon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vga0M4ia5Mc
― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP), Monday, 1 March 2021 16:51 (three years ago) link
lmao
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 1 March 2021 16:57 (three years ago) link
star spangled banner shreds
I like it with the accompaniment even better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf0dcMH4N5U
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 1 March 2021 17:10 (three years ago) link
i found my new favorite genre of music.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Monday, 1 March 2021 18:29 (three years ago) link
cpac strangled banner
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Monday, 1 March 2021 23:00 (three years ago) link
let’s call em “red notes” from now on
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Monday, 1 March 2021 23:04 (three years ago) link
Sung in the key of Q flat.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 1 March 2021 23:18 (three years ago) link
“Tomorrow Belongs To Meme”
― mike t-diva, Monday, 1 March 2021 23:50 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqEp-NMeMF8
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 21:07 (three years ago) link
freeeee EEEeeeeeeeeee
hahahahaha I knew just from the text which accompaniment video you had posted
― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 21:18 (three years ago) link
AMERICA UNCANCELED ok lol
― Blick, Bils & Blinky • Let's Skip The Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 21:33 (three years ago) link
these guys are also great just from a "how did they sing this with a straight face" standpoint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-O72WMRKo
― Hello Nice FBI Lady (DJP), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 21:35 (three years ago) link
jute gyte would approve
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 21:44 (three years ago) link
chic “everybody dance”
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 December 2021 18:01 (two years ago) link
earth wind and fire “sing a song”
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 December 2021 18:06 (two years ago) link
most of the songs playing at this airport bar would qualify as great new national anthems to me
Most EW&F songs would be great new national anthems.
― Max Hamburgers (Eric H.), Thursday, 30 December 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
otm
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Thursday, 30 December 2021 18:12 (two years ago) link
dying at the CPAC rendition upthread which I somehow missed. holy shit.
― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Monday, 15 April 2024 14:46 (one week ago) link
It’s incredible
― Cemetry Gaetz (DJP), Monday, 15 April 2024 15:51 (one week ago) link