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John Williams comes in 5th place on poll for who should write a new national anthem for USA


indy4

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An odd poll since it'll never happen, but to my knowledge Williams have never written lyrics.

Uhm, Williams wrote the lyrics for the gospel songs in Rosewood I believe, as well as Immolation from Schindler's List...

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An odd poll since it'll never happen, but to my knowledge Williams have never written lyrics.

Uhm, Williams wrote the lyrics for the gospel songs in Rosewood I believe, as well as Immolation from Schindler's List...

The lyrics for "Immolation" are from Hebrew texts that a religious official gave Williams.

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An odd poll since it'll never happen, but to my knowledge Williams have never written lyrics.

Uhm, Williams wrote the lyrics for the gospel songs in Rosewood I believe, as well as Immolation from Schindler's List...

The lyrics for "Immolation" are from Hebrew texts that a religious official gave Williams.

Ah... In the piano-book it says: Music & Lyrics by John Williams, hence my misunderstanding.

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He did select the specific text he wanted out of several given to him by the religious official, so I guess it's not entirely untrue... ;)

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The US has perfectly serviceable patriotic songs in "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" that we wouldn't "need" someone to pen a "new" national anthem, because there's nothing wrong with the one we have. "Too hard to sing?" Boo hoo.

I think Springsteen leans too far to the left to write a good anthem that the whole country could get behind. Even "Born in the USA" is an anti-Vietnam War song; Reagan misunderstood the lyrics when he attached it to his reelection campaign.

Yes, km, people outside this board know who John Williams is. The poll probably showed a picture of Star Wars or Jaws to jog people's memory. If you said "presenting John Williams, award-winning composer of Always, Heartbeeps, and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home," most people outside this board would go "bah bah bah" with naive ignorance.

~*~

One thing is guaranteed for sure. Ain't no way Stevie Wonder would start a song with "O say can you see..."

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One thing is guaranteed for sure. Ain't no way Stevie Wonder would start a song with "O say can you see..."

Hahaha... You're really funny... Hahahaha... Not.

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Yeah, but they think his music is pompous, too sugary, "in-your-face" and sounds repetitive.

Actually, it's no different from most people's opinion here.

I just read a statement like that 1 minute ago.

('bombastic')

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Some people in the US want a new anthem?

Heck, if the one you have maes me want to be an american, and Williams rendition even more so.

I wish we had one as deeply rooted and loved as the one you have.

I dont mind the spanish anthem, specially then newer official symphonic version, but everytime they think of puting some lyrincs nothing materialises, and half the country hates the music anyway.

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I wish we had one as deeply rooted and loved as the one you have.

I dont mind the spanish anthem, specially then newer official symphonic version, but everytime they think of puting some lyrincs nothing materialises, and half the country hates the music anyway.

I hate it.

The USA one is cool. I don't care about the lyrics though.

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Completely agreed, Chaac!

Just out of curiosity... Where are you from? I ask because Les Luthiers are mainly known in South America and Spain, so it would be quite interesting if someone from the USA (for example) knew about them :)

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Apparently the tune of America's national anthem was actually taken from a British drinking song.

Uh, not apparently. That is where the melody came from.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" combined FS Key's 1814 poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" with the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for a men's social club in London, "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), which was already popular in the United States.

It's a brilliant anthem and does not need to be replaced. I cannot think of anything lamer than asking Williams (and Bricusse, you know it would happen) to write a new anthem for an entire country. Wanna score a movie? Commemorate a statue that should be mined for copper? Honor a baseball team? Fine. Leave it at that. This poll was purely academic because the magazine needed something to write about; that's what polls and lists are for.

~*~

If only one of the Canadian hockey teams were still in it, we would hear that even more brilliant national anthem being sung, but alas, all those teams underachieved this year.

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A new national anthem? Ha! What will the lyrics be: "America uber alles"? That's what they want, isn't it?

You laugh, but Joseph Haydn's melody of "Über Alles" -- (the "Deutschlandlied" ("Song of Germany", "Das Lied der Deutschen," "The Song of the Germans," "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (literally, "Germany, Germany above all") -- was adopted as my university's alma mater in 1908 when it was the Austrian National Anthem.

In the right time and place, when I'm in the right mood, when I hear that melody, with or without hearing/singing the words, the tears will freely stream down my face, and I can tell you that it's not for love of Germany that I am so moved.

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Completely agreed, Chaac!

Just out of curiosity... Where are you from? I ask because Les Luthiers are mainly known in South America and Spain, :)

I wish we had one as deeply rooted and loved as the one you have.

I dont mind the spanish anthem, specially then newer official symphonic version, but everytime they think of puting some lyrincs nothing materialises, and half the country hates the music anyway.

I hate it.

Only a true spanish would hate the anthem, michael. it was obvious ;)

Chaac, what do you hate about it?

The music per se or the disgusting historical setting it sadly has been forever associated with?

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I saw an article in a print newspaper about this

They mention the first 4, skip over Williams (do not mention him), them mention those other guys that came after him

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You laugh, but Joseph Haydn's melody of "Über Alles" -- (the "Deutschlandlied" ("Song of Germany", "Das Lied der Deutschen," "The Song of the Germans," "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (literally, "Germany, Germany above all") -- was adopted as my university's alma mater in 1908 when it was the Austrian National Anthem.

Musically, it's a much better hymn than the one we have now.

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Only a true spanish would hate the anthem, michael. it was obvious ;)

Chaac, what do you hate about it?

The music per se or the disgusting historical setting it sadly has been forever associated with?

The music, it just gets on my nerves.

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John Williams already wrote a an American anthem

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Too bad about the cheesy lyrics. The melody is quite nice. I always wanted to have an orchestra only arrangement of it

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