"God Bless America"--MFY Stadium--Every Game

[dinosaur jesus]

It's sort of sweet, actually, having an Irving Berlin tribute at every game. There are just a lot of better songs they could have picked. "Cheek to Cheek." "Puttin' on the Ritz." "Alexander's Ragtime Band." "Blue Skies." Those are songs worth taking your hat off for.

[dgwphotography]

G-Fafif wrote: Ceetar wrote: Or hell, embrace the regional nature of it and play New York, New York. As was done 9/21/2001, led by Liza Minnelli herself (whose version I always liked better than Sinatra's).

The original is usually the best...


Ray Charles' version of America the Beautiful should trump both "God Bless America" and The National Anthem...

[Benjamin Grimm]

dgwphotography wrote: Ray Charles' version of America the Beautiful should trump both "God Bless America" and The National Anthem...

Absolutely.

[G-Fafif]

dinosaur jesus wrote: It's sort of sweet, actually, having an Irving Berlin tribute at every game. There are just a lot of better songs they could have picked. "Cheek to Cheek." "Puttin' on the Ritz." "Alexander's Ragtime Band." "Blue Skies." Those are songs worth taking your hat off for.

If only Alex Escobar had worked out.

[seawolf17]

Lefty Specialist wrote: I prefer 'America the Beautiful' as it's less overtly religious or militaristic than the others. I don't like patriotism forced on me. One of the bad legacies of 9/11 is that for a while there if you didn't stand at attention for every patriotic song you were viewed as un-American. I do not stand at attention nor do I take off my hat for God Bless America- in fact that's usually my bathroom break. I do stand for the National Anthem, because that's traditional and wasn't grafted on afterwards to prove we can sing louder than the terrorists.

Agree wholeheartedly.

[dgwphotography]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: dgwphotography wrote: Ray Charles' version of America the Beautiful should trump both "God Bless America" and The National Anthem... Absolutely.

I love the version where he sings the second third verses before the first. I just can't seem to find it online...

[Benjamin Grimm]

I do stand for the National Anthem, because that's traditional and wasn't grafted on afterwards to prove we can sing louder than the terrorists.

No, it was grafted on afterwards to prove that we can sing louder than Nazis:

Musical Traditions in Sports

[seawolf17]

Regardless of when the national anthem started, we already have a patriotic song during the game, and it's silly to have a second one.

[metsmarathon]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: ...it was grafted on afterwards to prove that we can sing louder than Nazis

and we still can, damnit!

[Centerfield]

I think it's dumb.

But I think everything the Yankees do is dumb, so I don't know where that leaves you.

[Guest Edgy DC]

bmfc1 wrote: I'm not being political here, really I'm not, I just want to ask if anybody can see the value in the MFYs performing "God Bless America" every game before the bottom of the 7th inning. I can see doing it this Sunday, and perhaps on national holidays, but every night? Last night, it was about 2 AM and everybody had to be in the rain for an extra two minutes while Miss America dragged out the song: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=18929477 (note the Teixeira constipated face... or is that his normal look?) What do you think? A proper way to honor America? A redundant and pompous act in the midst of a game when we've already sang the National Anthem?

No, I don't really see the value.

ceetar wrote: I hate God Bless America. Mainly because of the non-secular nature of it, and because it's forced down my throat. I hate that the Mets seem to play it (or did) every Sunday, which is obviously prompted by religion. The Yankees (well, YES) force it down your throat further, by not cutting to commercial. (I don't think they stay around for the Anthem do they? I don't think I've caught the beginning of a Yankees game this season) I did get yelled at by a fan once at Yankee Stadium last year when I didn't feel like removing my cap for it. Oops. I'm not going to complain about the time thing though, cause I love Lazy Mary and love in some perverse way when it's an ESPN game or a long break and we get the English verses that follow the Eye-Talian.

I disagree that it's obviously prompted by religion. I think it's prompted by the organization wanting to be --- or wanting to be seen as being --- good citizens. It's an official alternative to the national anthem and they were doubling down on the patriotism. That it has an invocation of the deity is a reality, but if some other secondary national anthem didn't have such, I don't think the Mets would be saying, "Fuck it, we're going with 'God Bless America'."

[seawolf17]

Edgy DC wrote: I disagree that it's obviously prompted by religion. I think it's prompted by the organization wanting to be --- or wanting to be seen as being --- good citizens.

It is a firm helping of both, but I'd bet it's balanced between the two.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: I disagree that it's obviously prompted by religion. I think it's prompted by the organization wanting to be --- or wanting to be seen as being --- good citizens. It's an official alternative to the national anthem and they were doubling down on the patriotism. That it has an invocation of the deity is a reality, but if some other secondary national anthem didn't have such, I don't think the Mets would be saying, "Fuck it, we're going with 'God Bless America'."

unconsciously prompted. Not by the Mets specifically but there's that ingrained christianity in our society that contradicts separation of church and state and all that. It's more a political/societal thing than a baseball thing. Baseball is a very follow the leader organization. One team plays Who Let the Dogs Out, every/most team starts playing it. One team starts outfitting rookies with pink backpacks, all teams start doing it. So the Mets are just going with the flow really and being as you said, good citizens.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: I think you could argue Take Me Out to the Ballgame is patriotic too. It's a song about where a girl wants her beau to take her on a date. to watch America's national pastime. I never knew that song was about football.

Rogers, is that you?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ouch!

I'm not saying that "baseball is dying" (This is his argument, isn't it? I have to say I rarely do more than skim his posts.) but football has certainly surpassed baseball in popularity. If there is a national passtime, it's probably eating in front of the television, but if that category is limited to professional sports, it's got to be football. The Super Bowl continues to be a major event, and the World Series isn't nearly what it once was.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ouch! I'm not saying that "baseball is dying" (This is his argument, isn't it? I have to say I rarely do more than skim his posts.) but football has certainly surpassed baseball in popularity. If there is a national passtime, it's probably eating in front of the television, but if that category is limited to professional sports, it's got to be football. The Super Bowl continues to be a major event, and the World Series isn't nearly what it once was.

probably better for a different thread, but I think it's apples and oranges. The once a week, tv-hyped, one-game 16 times format of football is much easier to devote a ton of time to and really follow. But the average football fan probably watches more baseball games a year than football. it's spread over a longer period, and there is less overlap, but overall, it's probably more hours on baseball. All it would take is the same one game a week.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Just teasing, but I think "If there is a national passtime, it's probably eating in front of the television," is really the plain and obvious truth. Good work.

And really, somewhere along the line, these things all became performances, rather than invitations to participate,a s they were meant to be. And even when they do give me an anachronistic invitation to sing along, and I do, I get sidelong glances like I'm a freak. In a country where our tendency to create ever less and consume ever more contributes every day to our national decline, patriotism so expressed turns it into just another thing we express merely in consumption. I have no taste for it at all.

On a side note, as a lyricist, I think "America the Beautiful" is a stunning piece of work.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Just teasing, but I think "If there is a national passtime, it's probably eating in front of the television," is really the plain and obvious truth. Good work.

indeed. Which is why they promote football as a beer and wings in front of the TV day.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: On a side note, as a lyricist, I think "America the Beautiful" is a stunning piece of work.

This is what I was getting at by comparing it to "GBA." I prefer the "AtB" melody, and the lyrics-- lyrically visualizing moments that GBA clumsily farts in the direction of, and then going on to give an impressionist (albeit romanticized) version of the founding/history of the country-- put it in another stratosphere than "foam"/"home."

[Guest Edgy DC]

The amazing thing is that it shifts from the past into the hoped-for future after every "America! America!"

We are indebted as heirs to these folks and this good fortune, therefore let us strive to make the country thusly for those who will inherit it. It's a prayer, certainly, but a prayer of thanksgiving, and a prayer of aspiration, openly acknowledging that the country as it is now is flawed.

My respect doesn't mean I necessarily think it a good idea to play at every baseball game.

[Willets Point]

I think the most patriotic baseball organization will insist on singing all four verses of "The Star Spangled Banner." Every inning.

Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

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!

[Guest Edgy DC]

When I'm the celebrity performer, I'm definitely doing all the verses.

... hooooome of the braaaaave!

"Yay! Woo-hoo! Let's play ball!"

On the shore dimly seen...

"Oh, dear God!"

[Willets Point]

I can't wait to hear you belt out "Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes" and "Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution."

[Centerfield]

Keep in mind, God makes an appearance in America the Beautiful too.

[Guest Edgy DC]

No doubt. Over and over. And I completely understand folks not wanting an official divine invocation at their baseball game, and when I rule, I won't subject them to that. I will be a just despot.

I just mention as an aside, it's an impressive piece of work from several angles

[Willets Point]

"Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution" is kind of Tolkien-esque. I wonder if Francis Scott Key cribbed from his unpublished fantasy novel manuscript.

[duan]

I think it's fairly bad on all sorts of levels.
To me national anthems are great when it's two countries playing each other, but anything else is just silly. I think that just the same about Mayo vs Kerry in Croker as I do about the Mets vs the Padres. It just seems so parochial and narrow. They play the Irish national anthem as the last song in rural irish 'discos' and it's a gruesome affair.

As for the God Bless America stuff, at this point in time there's plenty of times when there's more guys from parts of the world other then the USA on the pitch playing the game - is one trying to rub their noses in the fact that they aren't from there or make it seem like the USA is definitively better then where they're from?

but I'm a grumpy geopolitically sceptical witness and probably not the target market.

[metirish]

duan wrote: . They play the Irish national anthem as the last song in rural irish 'discos' and it's a gruesome affair. .

The local pub would do that, the band playing would finish up with it.....out local rural disco finished up with either "Whole of the Moon" or Sinatra's New York New York.Yeah it was gruesome alright.

[duan]

metirish wrote: duan wrote: . They play the Irish national anthem as the last song in rural irish 'discos' and it's a gruesome affair. . The local pub would do that, the band playing would finish up with it.....out local rural disco finished up with either "Whole of the Moon" or Sinatra's New York New York.Yeah it was gruesome alright.

I've seen some grim sights in the likes of Ballinrobe when the lights come on at 3am for Amhr�n na bhFiann. Nobody looks good in bright lights at 3 am.

[Guest Edgy DC]

duan wrote: As for the God Bless America stuff, at this point in time there's plenty of times when there's more guys from parts of the world other then the USA on the pitch playing the game - is one trying to rub their noses in the fact that they aren't from there or make it seem like the USA is definitively better then where they're from?

This is where I break from Carlos Delgado. Even as I agree with you that it shouldn't be played, and agree with some above that it wouldn't top my personal list of patriotic anthems or hyms, I disagree with Carlos that "God Bless America" means "God, Please Don't Bless Other Places," "God Damn the Rest of the World," or "God Bless America, Because Everyone Knows We've Earned It More Than Anyone Else."

If anything's implicit, it's that by asking for guidance, it's acknowledging that we need guidance. And we do.