MR

This morning, one of our local radio stations was talking about this letter to the editor that was written by a student and published this week in a Notre Dame student newspaper:



Time to update National Anthem
Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Viewpoint
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When I hear the word "America," a few things come to mind. One is apple pie. Others include freedom, hot dogs, John Wayne, baseball, Journey and what is possibly the greatest song ever written since Beethoven penned his ninth symphony (and probably greater than that too): Don't Stop Believin'.
When I think of America, a few things don't come to mind. One is sushi. Another is ramparts. I'm not even sure what a rampart is. In fact, I don't think anyone actually knows what a rampart is. However, everyone knows what streetlights, people, city boys, small town girls and midnight trains are. Why, then, does our National Anthem mention ramparts while omitting streetlights and midnight trains?
"The Star Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key 194 years ago, and while it may have been awesome enough to be our national anthem then, today it is hopelessly outdated. No one even knows its last three verses. It no longer captures the essence of the contemporary American spirit, and as such, it ought to be replaced by a song that reflects the passions of our great nation and is known and loved by the entire country. I have seen Olympic athletes cry when they stand atop the podium, have a gold medal placed around their neck, and hear "The Star Spangled Banner" played in their honor. While some would say that these tears are inspired by feelings of immense joy and patriotism, I cannot help but believe that they are crying because our National Anthem is so bad. Have you ever seen people sing along to the National Anthem with any hint of enthusiasm? Most people I know don't even sing the words, but just wait impatiently until the song is over so that whatever sporting event they are about to watch can finally begin.
On the other hand, I have seen people climb atop tables in order to sing Don't Stop Believin'. I have seen incredible displays of air-guitar virtuoso to the tune of the song, and I have seen complete strangers become best friends, if only for a moment, as they together shout the chorus of Journey's magnum opus. America deserves a song like this.
While I know that our national anthem is unlikely to be changed anytime soon due to our culture's unfortunate aversion to change, that will not deter my efforts to give Journey's timeless anthem the place it rightly deserves in American culture. I have a dream that someday I will find myself at a baseball game. I have a dream that before the first pitch, I will hear a voice say, "Please rise for the National Anthem." And I have a dream that, accompanied by pyrotechnics and a low-flying jet, I will hear Journey. But until that day, my friends, don't stop believin', hold on to that feelin'.

Josh Mollner
sophomore
Stanford Hall
Feb. 23





COULDN'T AGREE WITH HIM MORE.

Well, I hear it so much, may as well. Where"s the petition?

I guess a lot of people were calling in and agreeing with him.

Rampart.

It's really amazing how this song has become a staple of classic rock stations. It is a part of America now. People I knew who were always anti-Journey now confess to liking it. I'm all for it.

I have to tell you that I laughed when I saw the subject of this thread. After reading this letter, it was quite compelling. I'm not saying that I agree with it, at all. I'm just saying that it was a SUPERBLY written letter, from a young person, who VERY clearly, and intelligently, articulated his thoughts. It's also worth mentioning that it's probably the first paragraph I've EVER seen, writtten by someone under the age of 25, that actually has every word spelled correctly!


John from Boston

Enigma869 wrote:I have to tell you that I laughed when I saw the subject of this thread. After reading this letter, it was quite compelling. I'm not saying that I agree with it, at all. I'm just saying that it was a SUPERBLY written letter, from a young person, who VERY clearly, and intelligently, articulated his thoughts. It's also worth mentioning that it's probably the first paragraph I've EVER seen, writtten by someone under the age of 25, that actually has every word spelled correctly!


John from Boston

I'd venture to say that 99.9% of everything I've ever written has been spelled correctly.

I'm 20 in two weeks.

Enigma869 wrote:It's also worth mentioning that it's probably the first paragraph I've EVER seen, writtten by someone under the age of 25, that actually has every word spelled correctly!

Hey! Guess what? ...Fah-Q!!

I told you fuckers Steve Perry posted here.

One of the reason's DSB has become so ANTHEMIC is that no cheesy video (ala Separate Ways) was ever done for it.

DSB invokes personal feelings instead of a dockyard and the air kitty.

StoneCold wrote:On of the reason's DSB has become so ANTHEMIC is that no cheesy video (ala Separate Ways) was ever done for it.

DSB invokes personal feelings instead of a dockyard and the air kitty.

Why'd you have to mention the SW(WA) video? I almost had it completely blocked out of my memory. I wish I had never seen that video. It was a good thing I was in love with that song for so long before I saw the video, or else it MAY have nearly ruined the song for me.

StoneCold wrote:One of the reason's DSB has become so ANTHEMIC is that no cheesy video (ala Separate Ways) was ever done for it.

DSB invokes personal feelings instead of a dockyard and the air kitty.

Steve Perry touched on this, and how he thought videos took away from self-interpretation of the song. Good call...I agree.

PS Maybe Lora or Cyndy could touch on exactly what he said and/or meant if they remember.

The Nat'l Antham is permanent. DSB should replace We are the champions at sporting events ! Agree?

squirt1 wrote:The Nat'l Antham is permanent. DSB should replace We are the champions at sporting events ! Agree?

Agreed!!! We Are The Champions is a stunningly terrible song. It's truly awful.

While the letter is well-written and I'm obviously a huge Journey fan, I don't agree with the sentiment at all.

ProgRocker53 wrote:I'd venture to say that 99.9% of everything I've ever written has been spelled correctly.

I'm 20 in two weeks.

I applaud your spelling skills Prog! Happy early birthday. I was simply commenting on my own personal experience, with regard to spelling and young people. I just come across MANY more young people who seemingly can't spell to save their lives, so I'm beginning to think that it's not just a coincidence. I have a nephew and three nieces who are all in their early twenties, and it usually takes me 20 minutes to decipher any emails from them, because of the complete massacre they commit on words and sentences! The frightening thing is that 3 out of 4 of them are actually college educated


John from Boston

squirt1 wrote:The Nat'l Antham is permanent. DSB should replace We are the champions at sporting events ! Agree?

I definitely don't agree. While I certainly think DSB is a far better song, "We Are The Champions" couldn't be a more apropos song to use in a sports environment! I also don't agree with SJ that it is a "truly awful song". If you've ever played sports, you know the ultimate goal is ALWAYS to be a champion, so the song will always work in the sports world!


John from Boston

Saint John wrote:

squirt1 wrote:The Nat'l Antham is permanent. DSB should replace We are the champions at sporting events ! Agree?

Agreed!!! We Are The Champions is a stunningly terrible song. It's truly awful.

I never really minded it in and of itself but good god its so overplayed that I'm willing to join in any kind of effort to make it go away permanently.

And I agree with StoneCold's point about DSB having never had a video. Thank god for that.

Music before the video age was so much more enjoyable without all those stupid images planted in your head that you can never get rid of. Can anyone really ever hear "Billie Jean" without immediately seeing light-up sidewalks, or "Dancing In the Dark" without boyish looking Courtney Cox 'Carlton dancing' all over the place, and of course probably the most laughed at video of all time, that blue and yellow warehouse with that little badass dude in the pink and black muscle shirt... what was that one called again?

Saint John wrote:

StoneCold wrote:One of the reason's DSB has become so ANTHEMIC is that no cheesy video (ala Separate Ways) was ever done for it.

DSB invokes personal feelings instead of a dockyard and the air kitty.

Steve Perry touched on this, and how he thought videos took away from self-interpretation of the song. Good call...I agree.

PS Maybe Lora or Cyndy could touch on exactly what he said and/or meant if they remember.

sorry SJ ...... not Lora or Cyndy here - altho they do rock!!!

I believe the event to which you are referring was part of the promos for a tour in Japan.

Perry, Neal and Jonathan were doing an interview (and, yes, it seems that some alcohol was involved - however, they were having a good time)

The interviewer asked them why they did not do more vids, as most artists were doing at the time.

And Perry mentioned that when they did the "Separate Ways" and "Chain Reaction" vids, they felt they were doing stories of the the writers'/director's interpretation of their material.

The band felt that each person listening to the music should have the freedom to close their eyes and experience their own interpretation.

Also they thought the vids were kinda cheesy.

So they chose to use concert footage instead for most of their vids.

They each then grabbed their "refreshments' and sang their way off camera - it was funny as hell.
Disclaimer: This is from memory - not verbatime.

Cat

CatEyes wrote:Also they thought the vids were kinda cheesy.

So they chose to use concert footage instead for most of their vids.


Cat

"Separate Ways" was beyond "cheesy". I would say it was as bad of a video as I've EVER seen! To call it ridiculous would be kind! On another note, I thought the video of "Faithfully" was perfect, as it really just showed their life on the road. It really fit the song, perfectly.


John from Boston

Enigma869 wrote:

CatEyes wrote:Also they thought the vids were kinda cheesy.

So they chose to use concert footage instead for most of their vids.


Cat

"Separate Ways" was beyond "cheesy". I would say it was as bad of a video as I've EVER seen! To call it ridiculous would be kind! On another note, I thought the video of "Faithfully" was perfect, as it really just showed their life on the road. It really fit the song, perfectly.


John from Boston

ALL of the Frontiers videos sucked. They redeemed themselves with the ROR live videos.

That student letter was funny...trying to change tradition. I've never been thrilled with the National Anthem, but that could be that I have memories of the t.v. on late at night to keep me company & waking up to hear the song playing before the stations went off the air & the loud test pattern came on. It was lonely & depressing, so that's what I associate with when I hear it. Some countries have really upbeat sounding anthems.

Probably a very good thing that DSB didn't have a cheesy video to associate with..."Chain Reaction" is worse than "SW". What the hell were these directors thinking? Sheesh, I could've come up with a better concept.

tammy wrote:Probably a very good thing that DSB didn't have a cheesy video to associate with..."Chain Reaction" is worse than "SW". What the hell were these directors thinking? Sheesh, I could've come up with a better concept.

I still say "After The Fall" was the worst one. I remember seeing it for the first time since I was a kid (when it was new) and thinking "Omfg, this SUCKS! What in hell were they thinking!"