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National Anathemas
Friday, March 07, 2008
Yesterday, we wondered what Irish people really thought of "Danny Boy." Today, we follow up by asking: What's your cultural equivalent to "Danny Boy"? Should it be banned or does it make you proud?
Comment below.
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Comments
the Yiddish folksong Tumbalalaika?
(I kinda hope not, but it does strike a peculiar chord for me)
A young lad is thinking, thinking all night
Would it be wrong, he asks, or maybe right,
Should he declare his love, dare he choose,
And would she accept, or will she refuse?
Chorus:
Tumbala, tumbala, tumbalalaika,
Tumbala, tumbala, tumbalalaika
tumbalalaika, play Balalaika,
tumbalalaika - let us be merry.
Maiden, maiden tell me again
What can grow, grow without rain,
What can burn for many years,
What can long and cry without tears?
Silly young lad, why ask again?
It's a stone that can grow, grow without rain,
It's love that can burn for many long years,
A the heart that can yearn and cry without tears.
This might sound odd, but...If you're Greek, then the very word "Greek" may feel inauthentic, a name imposed by the Romans, and which Robert Kaplan once claimed only meant "slave".
It's Hellas, not Greece. So isn't a "Greek" in truth a hellene, or hellenic? I personally dislike the word "Greek" and all its stubborn connotations, even though I know it brings fond feelings for most Greek-Americans, and for a lot of tourists and hellenophiles. These "mixed feelings" are probably how some Irish view "Danny Boy".
As for songs, the complicated rembetika music (like a mediterranean version of the blues post-repatriation) never really got played out, but one of its great popularizers, Mikis Theodorakis, often manages to say things that are politically indefensible, thus making his version of the music style difficult to share.
I'm an Italian - American, so anything by Frank Sinatra. Too many of his songs were used in mafia movies. I don't think he had a good singing voice anyway. Sorry, guys.
Cajun. Talk about stereotypes! Just because we are from the south and have accents, doesn't mean we are ignorant.
I would call the movie "Waterboy" our "Danny Boy".
Hava Nagila can please be put to bed, thats enough, its overdone!
...and I AM proud to be an American! But the neighborhood elementary school kids sing the following song so ridiculously frequently that they've long taken to mocking it (in school they must follow along to a southern-accented recording). The other day they even joked "Gd Bless 'Gd Bless America.'"
Effective Russian propaganda in the last election was all about fun and sex. THIS is the best we can do??
Replace the location and it might as well have been written by The Huns -- or even C&W ants.
Artist: Lee Greenwood
Title: Proud To Be An American
If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.
(goes on/cut for space)
any and all christmas music. i can't stand it anymore. my hatred of it may be the main cause of me becoming an atheist. jingle bells mad me stop believing in the baby jesus.
This may be unpopular, but I'd like to see a 20-year moratorium on ALL Christmas music. I start to dread the holiday when I begin hearing "Jingle Bells" in early October.
This cuts across all traditions: "Happy Birthday."
Gad, it is banal and treacly...and never seems to raise anyone's spirits!
As a Gay man, I would implore the Gay world to cease and desist from ever playing "I Will Survive" ever again. The 70s are over. We survived. Let's move on!
Seconds on Hava Nageelah.
we will rock you by queen
i have to second the sentiment that hava nagila needs to be stopped.
(i was unable to prevent it at my bar mitzva but did manage to ban it at my wedding, much to everyone's delight)
thanks.
If I never hear 'The Chicken Dance' or 'Feliz Navidad' again it would be too soon...
For the gays..."It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls. It's played at every gay bar and gay event all over the world, all of the time. I for one am ready to move on.
Happy Birthday. Even talented singers can't make this song sound good. Why don't we take the lead from other cultures -- Mexican or Brazilian for example -- and sing a song to celebrate a birthday that pleases the ears and is fun to sing.
At both of my daughters' bat mitzvah receptions, I banned (with their eager consent) any songs or background music from "Fiddler on the Roof" (especially "Sunrise, Sunset"). When I mentioned this to the caterer, he thanked me profusely.
Please, PLEASE...
NO MORE "GOD BLESS AMERICA" !!!
Even Berlin himself hated it! It is an awful tune and the words are a trite rip-off of "America" (O Beautiful, for spacious skies...). Why not sing THAT instead? It certainly is a much more loving and respectful anthem.
I am third generation Polish through three grandparents, so the over heard song was Bobby Vinton's "My Melody of Love".
"Arirang," which achieved recent prominence when the NY Phil played it in Pyongyang, may be Korea's "Danny Boy." [In fact, some have called Koreans the Irish of Asia: fiercely proud, a bit rowdy (esp. when in their cups), fond of sad songs, and distrustful of outsiders (esp. those island folk to the east who once colonized them).]
An American-born Korean, I don't claim to speak for all Koreans, but personally I don't list "Arirang" among my favorites. It's become very much a cliché, as evidenced by all the restaurants, travel agencies, and other businesses that have "Arirang" in their name. Even the notorious "mass games" in the DPRK are called "Arirang," IIRC. (And the line about hoping someone's feet hurt strikes me as a bit too down-to-earth!)
I prefer the, for me, more stirring ROK national anthem. Though I admit I'm probably somewhat deracinated, I still find the opening line (roughly translated) "From the waters of the East Sea to Mount Baekdu" very moving. The East Sea is the Korean name of the Sea of Japan, and Mount Baekdu, the mythical birthplace of the Korean people, lies on the border with China -- despite the geopolitical tensions and occasionally outbreaks of violence of the past six decades, the song defiantly, if for now aspirationally, proclaims Korea one nation.
The Chicken Dance - I am of German heritage and anytime we are at some sort of German themed event the song always comes up and then never leaves your head.
From my culture:
"I Did It My Way," as sung by Frank Sinatra and played by every Italian-American wedding d.j., sung by every Italian-American wedding singer, and imitated by every Sinatra wannabe. (And by the "way," he didn't do it his way -- he did it the Gambino's way. I'm tired of the "Godfather" theme, too!)
As a New Yorker I am SICK to DEATH of hearing "New York, New York" on every corner (especially after a Yankee's win). There are hundreds of songs about New York, let's try another. That song has been burnt out, put it on the shelf for a while.
Speaking of gay anthems - can we retire YMCA?
I have a version of Hava Nagila played on bagpipes (Played by a group called Send in the Haggis - it makes me laugh everytime I hear it.)
How about banning Sweet Caroline as a wedding song - it makes no sense.
"Macarena" is a song by Los del Río about a woman of the same name.
Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegria y cosa buena
Dale a tu cuerpo alegria, Macarena
Heeeeey Macarena
AAAhAA!
Dale a tu cuerpo alegria Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegria y cosa buena
Dale a tu cuerpo alegria, Macarena
Heeeeey Macarena
AAAhAA!
thats enough! no more please!
you can't live in Nova Scotia, Canada (where I grew up), with out hearing the hated "Barrett's Privateers" sung loudly and drunkenly by both locals and tourists in every pub in the city (Halifax) EVERY night of the summer. BARF!
Written by Stan Rogers; performed by every bar band in the Maritimes.
http://www.3pintsgone.com/lyrics/StValery/Barretts.htm
From soap operas to sit-coms, "Amazing Grace" is so overused it has lost its meaning. Play it with some bagpipes while it's raining at a funeral and that just puts it over the top.
I'm not a religious person, so maybe I'm not getting it, but there must be other songs that are just as meaningful and moving that could be used in its place.
I grew up in New Jersey learning about my family's Italian heritage and never once heard a Sinatra or Dean Martin song played around the house or at family functions. So when people get misty when they hear, "When the moon hits your eye..." I cringe a little. I could live without ever hearing that again...or pretty much anything by Frank Sinatra.
I love my people BUT...Black people please stop using Stevie Wonder's Ribbon in the Sky at weedings and even worse, please keep wedding singers from destroying it
If I ever have to see another bride dancing with her daddy to the cloyingingly Jewish strains of SUNRISE, SENSET before a roomful of tearfully smiling wedding guests, I will shoot myself there and then, at my table, whatever its number might be.
Hopefully I won't be bringing on the scorn of many believers in the Christian tradition, or the wrath of God himself, by nominating Amazing Grace to be semi-retired. I understand that when Christians get together and want to sing something impromptu this is a good go-to because everyone (mostly) knows the words. But when it's the only one sung it kinda gets old at every event. We can still bring it out for super-special event, but it would definitely have to fall under the category of AMAZING. It's also a meaningful song to me personally, which is another reason why I wouldn't like it 'worn out' by constant singing.
Also, it probably should be retired completely for from funerals too. Let's just play a typical funeral dirge.
I hope never to hear Hava Nagila at any Jewish celebration...unless perhaps if Harry Belafonte is singing
I recently attended a birthday celebration of an Iranian friend. They sang a beautiful birthday song to him that went on forever. But it was so beautiful.
It made me realize that our culture's "Happy Birthday to You" is so lame. I wouldn't mind at all if I never heard that song again.
If only some more beautiful, more musical songs became popular as birthday songs!
How about "You are so beautiful to me?"
Please make "Stairway to Heaven" go away!
...and I agree with Jules... "New York, New York" is nauseating. Why not go back to "Eastside, Westside, ... The Sidewalks of New York"?
I'm with Motti. My son is coming up on his Bar Mitzvah celebration and he's found a number of renditions of Hava Nagila online, from heavy metal to techno/punk and the classics (of course.) It's hilarious - in a manic sort of way - to listen to them all in one sitting and he's creating a mash-up as a tribute to his burgeoning Jewish adulthood. We'll send you a copy, Brian.
Shabbat Shalom
MMN
My Uncle Irving was sitting at the Passover table at my parents' house around fifteen years ago, flipped open his watch, pushed a button and played "Hava Nagila."
The lyrics, when translated, are idiotic.
This tune has got to go.
I agree with Motti on giving Hava N'Gilah the hook. Unless you sing the "Hava Banana with sour cream" version
I also agree with "Is this Patriotic?". Actaully "God Bless America" comes straight from "God Bless the Queen" sung in England. If you get to England and go to the movies you'll wonder why they are playing "God Bless America" at the end of the movie.
So these comments are from my two traditions - thus Be Happy and "L'chaim".
Although its not played anymore I nominate In-Gadda-Da-Vida as the song that should only be played in private.
From Redneck Culture, please ban:
"Oakie From Muskogee"
and
"Red Neck, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer."
((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))
Oakie From Muskogee
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don't take our trips on LSD;
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin' right, and bein' free.
We don't make a party out of lovin';
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
I'm proud to be an Oakie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thril of all.
Leather boots are still in style for mainly footwear;
Beads and roman sandals won't be seen.
Football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.
And I'm proud to be an Oakie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightin's still the biggest thril of all.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
Rednecks, White Socks And Blue Ribbon Beer
by Johnny Russell
Words & Music by Chuck Neese,
Bob McDill and Wayland Holyfield
VERSE 1:
There's no place that I'd rather be than right here
With my red necks, white socks and blue ribbon beer
The bar-maid is mad 'cause some guy made a pass
The juke box is play-in' there stands the glass
And the cig-a-rette smoke kind-a hangs in the air
Red-necks, white socks and blue rib-bon beer
VERSE 2:
A cow-boy is cus-in' the pin-ball ma-chine
A drunk at the bar is get-tin' nois-y and (mean
And, some guy on the phone says ill be home soon dear
Red-necks white socks and blue rib-bion beer
CHORUS:
No we don't fit in with that white col-lar crowd
We're a lit-tle too row-dy and a little too loud
There's no place that I'd rath-er be than right here
With my red-necks white socks and blue rib-bon beer
VERSE 3:
The sem-is are pass-ing on the high-way out-side
The four thir-ty crowd is a-bout to ar-rive
The sun's go-in' down and we'll all soon be here
Red-necks, white socks and blue rib-bon beer
REPEAT CHORUS:
There's no place that I'd rather be than right here
With my red-necks, white socks and blue rib-bon beer
As an Italian American I also cringe upon hearing, "That's Amore". Also, if you hear this song in an Italian restaurant, you can be sure that the food will be bad. It's time to say goodbye to this song.
This is a little complicated so I'll explain a bit. I am first generation American and most of my family is from Panama. Soca/calypso music is huge in that culture and from the time I was a child I heard the greats of this music sing a variety of great dance tunes.
One such singer was Arrow. (Feel free to Wikipedia him.)
His big hit? His song that got played at 100 decibels every bbq and block party of my childhood in the 80's?
"Hot, Hot, Hot."
Imagine my pain and suffering when, heaven help me, Buster Poindexter remakes this song.
It is now FOREVER ingrained in every wedding DJ's playbook.
Let.
It.
Go.
Already.
It's a stretch to call it cultural but please no more "Down Under" by Men at Work for anything even vaguely related to my homeland. It was a laugh for a year or two but 20 or so years later it really does bring on the urge to "chunder"
I'm Mexican American and I could really do without hearing either "La Cucaracha" or the "Mexican Hat Dance" song. They are so overused that it seems almost a caricature of the culture.
I agree with the poster yesterday who wants Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey.
Also, the Ellen Fitzgerald is getting old and don't forget the stupid Unicorn song I hear at Irish pubs.
For a city with more good music than most, New Orleans could give "When the Saints Go Marching In" a rest. No one would notice but the tourists.
"My counry tis of thee" the children sing it at school and they don't know that it's the British National Anthem "God Save the King/Queen" The revolutionary war is long over, the words are outdated.
I may be in the minority here, but I was thinking "Bright College Years."
As a Jew, I echo calls for an end to Sunrise, Sunset. (I confess I like Hava Nagila mashups:-)
As a Boomer: "Born to be Wild". Maybe we were, but that was a looong time ago!
"Posted by: Stuart Kaplan March 07, 2008 - 10:47AM
Teaneck NJ
[...]
Actually "God Bless America" comes straight from "God Bless the Queen" sung in England."
I think that would actually be "God Save the Queen (King)" to which we in America sing the words "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty..."
I strongly agree with the comment about "That's Amore". I am also an Italian-american and it too makes me cringe. Playing that song is nothing more than a public display of bad musical taste.
Every time I hear a pipe band it seems they're playing Amazing Grace. Enough already! There are tons of other Scottish tunes to choose from. The words are really awful - "A wretch like me?" Who likes to say that out loud. Now that Tartan Week is around the corner, I'm hoping some others feel the way I do. At last year's parade, I'm sure I heard that song a million times!
Paradise by the Dashboard Light must be banished not only from weddings but from all the earth forever.
I agree with all posters regarding "God Bless America". If we continue to be deprived of "Take Me out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch, then the terrorists have won!
Mormons everywhere: stop singing "Saturday's Warrior" at every social gathering. I returned to Utah to visit family last month and was surprised to hear this song STILL in HEAVY ROTATION at church services and family events.
The LDS faithful seem to think it is hipper than traditional hymns cause it was written this century, but I don't want my kids to have to endure this ubiquitous syrupy account of how its the latter days (Saturday) and the most noble souls are sent now to save everyone, the way I did as a child.
Nothing person Mormon family... :)
As a Jewish person, I would be very happy to skip SUNRISE, SUNSET. To me this is the worst Jewish-American schmaltz ever.
I agree with ABC. Anything Frank Sinatra for being Italian. I would rather listen to Dominick the Italian donkey.
"If I Had a Million Dollars" needs to be retired for the sake of American culture.
Hava Nagila.
Please make it stop.
When the moon hits your eye like a biguh pizza pie, that's amore. LOL. Non ne posso piu'! (I can't take it anymore!)
polkas...all polkas!!!
I am getting married this year, and when we hire a DJ, I will insist it's in the contract that if she/he plays "Brick House" I will kick them in the shins and make them try to dance to this overplayed, annoying wedding song.
Ahhh but how can you not like the Andrew sisters, I loved that piece just now.
It is ironic that the piece was about retiring that song, but you played a giant montage at the end. IT HAS BEEN PLAYING IN MY HEAD for the last 24 hours and I'm not even Irish.
Thank you, Brian.
Oh God, here's comes roll out the barrel - my weekend is runied!
the little drummer boy par ump a bum bum and rockin around the christmas tree
Because it's a drinking song. the star spangles banner
Brian:
How about "La Cucaracha". I'm soooo sick of being associated with it just because I speak spanish spanish. We're not all mariachis.
I havent actually heard anyone SING "Kumbiya" since I left the Girl Scouts, but can we PLEASE just ban the use of the word? (at the very least on MSNBC)
Just a thought.
Any and all versions of the Electric Slide.
lose the phrase "old school" over used and meaningless.
I love the star spangled banner, it's moving in any version
another phrase that an idiot flare is "get my or your (insert word) on"
We Gather Together, for a WASP thanksgiving... how about a hip hop version?
Why are you playing the songs people never want to hear again?
American Pie--ugggggggggggggg! too long and indulgent
istanbul not constantinopolis!
enough of it! i hate it, even though it is true! (im turkish) but do we need that song associated with istanbul still??
No Mas La Macarena
But I can't get enough of Electric Slide
The Electric Slide
Had just about enough of New York, New York. Haven't we all?
My cultural heritage is classical music, and I'm sick, sick, sick of hearing Bach's Brandenburg Concerti. They are overplayed.
New York, NY by sinatra
All gay events have "it's raining men" - overused and tired!
Brian, Perhaps we should take a cue from your MLK Jr. Day Readings, and not ban these classics (hey they are classics because they are great!) be exchange them umong ourselves.
Star Spangled Banner at ball games in particular is a horror. America the Beautiful SHOULD be our national anthem period
Amazing Grace
oh Volare is GREAT!!! - and I love "Patricia" too
yes, we can ban Louis Armstrong singing "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" -- YES, i am an african-american woman
in fact, let's ban Louis Armstrong SINGING, period.
Play that trumpet in heaven, Louis, God bless you ...
My first thought, working in a gay bar, was "It's Raining Men" so I agree with those above. BUT ALSO,
Dreamgirls "And I am Telling You I'm Not Going."
The song should be sung by 2 people only (the 2 Jennifers) and even they need to stop the vocal masturbation they are doing with it trying to out do each other. Lets let Mary Wilson have a day after birthday present and not let anyone else sing the song that made her fictionally re-famous ever again.
The Celine Dion theme song from Titanic. I know it's not a religious or cultural song, but it's on every department store play list! So sick of it.
I like most of the songs you are playing though. :)
I would like a moratorium on "Hooked on a Feeling" as well as "Sweet Caroline."
Mambo Italiano -- that's a NOT nice!
Pachabel's Canon!
AAAHHH What about "That's Amore" How did that become an italian american anthem..
Mark got to it first, but as a jazz lover I second the forced demise of "When the Saints Come Marching In." At Preservation Hall there's a sign, "Requests $2, The Saints $5."
By the way, Stuart, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" is based on "God Save the Queen", not "God Bless America". But you're right about banning GBA. PLEASE!!!!!!
Sorry to post again, but I can imagine an Irish wake with the mourners singing Hava Nageelah.
We need to ban the song "Jump Around" by House of Pain at any place that plays dance music
THE CHRISTMAS CLICHES!!!
I'll be home for Christmas
White Christmas
Jingle Bells
I like Frank Sinatra's music, but I can't listen
to "My Way" anymore. The song is way over-played.
"I'm proud to be an american" by lee greenwood.
As an Italian-American, my big protest is THAT'S AMORE. What does a big pizza-pie have to do with love?
More American pop-culture equivalents to Danny Boy are:
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
BORN IN THE USA (although I love the Nebraska album)
and MEMORIES from CATS
... and UP WHERE WE BELONG, get rid of it!
This thread is closed.
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