kill the wabbit

January 31, 2008 7:49 PM

What is the most jingoistic public song you've ever heard?

I need ideas from among Marching songs, patriotic songs, national anthems, 1950's movie songs (or any era's movies or plays'), religious songs etc. I'm looking for songs that express one's desire to come together, march or do some other vaguely militaristic activity, uphold the notion of our (imagined) homogeneity (of being or purpose), and generally celebrate such things in a song.

Something along the lines of "the ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah".

I'm looking for full songs, not just one or two phrases inside a song. I need it as background music for a video that satirizes a right wing group.


thanks!

posted by jak68 to media & arts (55 comments total)

The Battle of New Orleans is a good one. Once the battle is over, the blood lust of the singer is so high that they stuff an alligator with gunpowder and blow it up to keep killing.
posted by mkb at 7:57 PM on January 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

Niel Young's embarrassing "Let's Roll" would be ironic.

Probably more appropriate:

The Battle Hymn of the Republic
A hushed, or hummed rendition of the national anthem
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 7:59 PM on January 31, 2008

There's always the original jingoistic war song.
posted by ormondsacker at 8:00 PM on January 31, 2008

Beer for My Horses, by Toby Keith with Willie Nelson?

Although after 9/11, I admit it was strangely satisfying.

Well a man come on the 6 o'clock news
Said somebody's been shot, somebody's been abused
Somebody blew up a building
Somebody stole a car
Somebody got away
Somebody didn't get too far yeah
They didn't get too far

Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree
Round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see

Chorus:

Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we'll sing a victory tune
We'll all meet back at the local saloon
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses

We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We've got too much corruption, and crime in the streets
It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down
You can bet he'll set 'em down
posted by GaelFC at 8:01 PM on January 31, 2008

hahaha! great stuff, please keep 'em coming ;)
posted by jak68 at 8:07 PM on January 31, 2008

Over There, and maybe also Marching Through Georgia and Onward, Christian Soldiers.
posted by dilettante at 8:24 PM on January 31, 2008

America We Stand As One is a modern-day classic of sorts.
posted by brain_drain at 8:27 PM on January 31, 2008

Okie From Muskogee
The Ballad of the Green Berets
posted by Afroblanco at 8:35 PM on January 31, 2008

Freedom isn't free,
It's got a hefty fucking fee.
posted by Corduroy at 8:41 PM on January 31, 2008

.... quoted from team america ....
posted by Corduroy at 8:42 PM on January 31, 2008

If you're an Aussie (and don't live in Sydney or Brisbane) Then it's "Up there Cazaly"
posted by mattoxic at 8:44 PM on January 31, 2008

The first time I heard this song by Toby Keith I thought I was listening to real life "Evan Eht Nioj" or something written by the political ops in Wag The Dog. It doesn't get more jingoistic than this.

Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack.
A mighty sucker punch came flying in from somewhere in the back.
Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man we lit up your world like the Fourth of July.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
It's gonna feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

posted by edverb at 9:07 PM on January 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood...they played it CONSTANTLY when I was in Bootcamp.
posted by legotech at 9:22 PM on January 31, 2008

Seconding edverb. That piece of shit Toby Keith song was the first thing I thought of.
posted by chrisamiller at 9:23 PM on January 31, 2008

Oh man, have to second Proud to Be An American.

Although "America, Fuck Yeah!' from Team America is the bomb.
posted by purenitrous at 9:28 PM on January 31, 2008

"let's have a war", by Fear
posted by purenitrous at 9:29 PM on January 31, 2008

The U.S. Marines' Hymn is pretty damn jingoistic, as well it should be. But 2^nding the Battle Hymn Of The Republic too.

For a bit of tongue-in-cheek, Rule, Britannia! is an 18th century nationalist British tune with lyrics all about defying tyrants and slavery that became a bit of an embarrassment with the advent of the British Empire. So good if you want to point out something that's imperialistic. The melody is quite recognizable.

I don't know if it's been set to music, but if parody is what you're looking for Mark Twain's The War Prayer is great:

O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them!
With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.

O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells;
help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead;
help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain;
help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire;
help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief;
help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes
of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst,
sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit,
worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it.

For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives,
protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears,
stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love,
and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset
and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.

Amen.

posted by XMLicious at 9:30 PM on January 31, 2008

Not sure whether a satirical song is appropriate for how you intend to satirize, but if so, how about Political Science by Randy Newman?

No one likes us; I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one, and see what happens

We give them money, but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us, so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one, and pulverize them

Asia's crowded, and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot, and Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one, there'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an all-American amusement park there
They got surfin', too!

Boom goes London, and boom Paris
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town

Oh how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You wear a Japanese kimono, baby
It'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

posted by Flunkie at 10:01 PM on January 31, 2008

Tom Lehrer's So Long Mom, I'm Off to Drop the Bomb was pastiche of an actual popular song, Goodbye Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama. Compare.
posted by eritain at 10:17 PM on January 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

I hereby present you with: I'm Proud To Be An American by Lee Greenwood: THE LASER SHOW.

Also, The Ballad of the Green Berets.
posted by melissa may at 10:20 PM on January 31, 2008 [1 favorite]

The French national anthem La Marseillaise is notoriously vivid.

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

(chorus:
To arms citizens
Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood)
Water our furrows

etc.
posted by Rumple at 10:21 PM on January 31, 2008

And on that note, another good one you can use to poke fun with is the Soviet National Anthem, recognizable if you've seen The Hunt For The Red October. THAT MOVIE IS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD?!?! ARRGH BRAIN HEMMORAGING Lyrics and mp3's.

Heck, you may just want to go get the soundtracks of every Michael Moore film.
posted by XMLicious at 10:45 PM on January 31, 2008

Hmm. I don't keep much in the way of fascist tunage around for references, so my hard drive yields somewhat different fruit:

"Switzerland," by Little Jack Melody and His Young Turks, is about marching over to Switzerland (where the trouble's brewing), and where after our military travails we will get to sleep with blondes named Heide.

Presidential Campaign Songs: 1789 - 1996. Oscar Brand isn't a particularly stentorian vocalist, but since political campaigns generally appropriated familiar tunes and overlaid their own, weird jingoistic candidate-supporting lyrics, there's dysphoric gold in tracks like "If the Johnnies Get Into Power Again," Garfield's campaign song.

Camper Van Beethoven's New Roman Times is an entire concept album built around the notion of a devolving America in which our disillusioned protagonist joins a local militia. Not a march among 'em, but given what you're working on you might find it interesting. "51-7" and "Might Makes Right" are most likely your kinda thing. "Hippy Chix" is, well, about being willing to die for hippy chicks (though maybe getting a bit of surfin' in, too).

Should you decide to go all old-timey newsreel footage with it, Archive.org has both Sousa's collected works and those of The Edison Military Band. Not lyrically martial, but oppressive in their instrumental unity.

Goddamn though, melissa may, that laser show is awe inspiring.
posted by mumkin at 10:58 PM on January 31, 2008

Dixie

Countless lyrical variants of "Dixie" exist, but the version attributed to Dan Emmett and its variations are the most popular.[4] Emmett's lyrics as they were originally intended reflect the mood of the United States in the late 1850s toward growing abolitionist sentiment. The song presented the point of view, common to minstrelsy at the time, that slavery was overall a positive institution. ... In short, "Dixie" made the case, more strongly than any previous minstrel tune had, that slaves belonged in bondage.[14] This was accomplished through the song's protagonist, who, in comic black dialect, implies that despite his freedom, he is homesick for the plantation of his birth.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:18 PM on January 31, 2008

Check out this thread where I asked the same question.
posted by sourwookie at 11:21 PM on January 31, 2008

What, no "Bush Was Right"? [see also]
Seriously, they totally ripped of The New Republic with their "TRB" logo.

Still, I don't know that there's much that beats "God Bless the USA" (which is the Lee Greenwood/Proud to be an American song). It's totally the national anthem of the NASCAR demographic. Apparently the USCIS has even put it in a video for newly naturalized citizens.

For pure jingoism, though, Toby Keith is way up there in the red zone. I have nightmares where years from now it's orchestrated and played in parks on the Fourth of July.
posted by dhartung at 11:33 PM on January 31, 2008

Any Malaysian anthem, though it's not in English so I don' know if that works for you.
posted by divabat at 12:24 AM on February 1, 2008

We Brits have some excellent examples in this category: I vow to thee my country and Land of Hope and Glory. The former is a hymn very popular at weddings and one I have been refusing to sing since primary school. The latter is closely associated with the Last Night of the Proms, always a scary, flag-waving affair. They're both 20th century and remain popular I suspect because of the music (by Gustav Holst and by Edward Elgar).

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider
Shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet.
posted by boudicca at 1:19 AM on February 1, 2008

The song Tomorrow Belongs to Me from the 1972 film Cabaret, is presented as a Nazi patriotic song. It was specifically written for the musical though, and is not a genuine Nazi song.
posted by howiamdifferent at 1:51 AM on February 1, 2008

I don't think other country, apart from victorian britain, nazi germany or communist russia has so many patriotic songs as the US. What's with that? Seems a tad insecure.
posted by mattoxic at 3:56 AM on February 1, 2008

this one by darryl worley (about the iraq war, heh) has jingo (and stupid) written all over it:


Darryl Worley
Have You Forgotten?

I hear people saying we don't need this war
But, I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn't worry 'bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it's too disturbing for you and me
It'll just breed anger that's what the experts say
If it was up to me I'd show it everyday
Some say this country's just out looking for a fight
Well, after 9/11 man I'd have to say that's right

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And we vowed to get the one’s behind bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

I've been there with the soldiers
Who've gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they're fighting for

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?

Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:29 AM on February 1, 2008

In line with the Randy Newman reference above, I offer Davie Bowie's I'm Afraid of Americans, if for nothing other than the repeated line, "God is an American." Someone I know got highly offended because they heard that bit and hadn't listened closely enough to whole song.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:43 AM on February 1, 2008

Entirely instrumental ... but how about the theme from the classic 1957 movie Bridge On The River Kwai?
posted by lpsguy at 5:56 AM on February 1, 2008

Another instrumental.. theme from th movie 1941?
posted by Quarter Pincher at 6:42 AM on February 1, 2008

Another Toby Keith song (emphasis is mine):

And I will always do my duty no matter what the price
I’ve counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice
Oh and I don’t want to die for you, but if dyin's asked of me
I’ll bear that cross with honor, cause freedom don’t come free.

Oh, and if I hear the "Have You Forgotten" song one more time, I'm going to go off my head. Some of these are kind of catchy (if you ignore the lyrics) but that one is just annoying.
posted by anaelith at 6:55 AM on February 1, 2008

I don't know why this matters so much to me, but I feel like it's important that point out that in "Battle of New Orleans," the gator thing happens during the battle, not after. They're killing British at such a rate that their cannons melt, so they improvise a new cannon out of a gator. It's at least as much about American can-do pluck as it is about bloodlust.
posted by COBRA! at 7:25 AM on February 1, 2008

I'm with lpsguy. "Colonel Bogey's March" is perfect for this. Vaguely militaristic, but also stupid sounding since it's whistled. And everybody knows it.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:38 AM on February 1, 2008

Justice will be served
And the battle will rage
This big dog will fight
When you rattle his cage
And you'll be sorry that you messed with the Blue, Green and Gray
We'll put a boot in your ass, it's the Metafilter way.
posted by sanko at 8:11 AM on February 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

God Bless America assumes everybody believes a) in the same god, b) any god at all and c) that we need to be blessed by this god.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:41 AM on February 1, 2008

"Dixie"? Are you sure you understand the word "jingoistic"? It doesn't mean "sentimental" or "nostalgic" (or for that matter "racist").

And XMLicious, what exactly is "jingoistic" about the Soviet National Anthem? You can read the lyrics here; if they're jingoistic, than so is every national anthem. "Jingoism" implies glorification of violence (OED: "one who brags of his country's preparedness for fight, and generally advocates or favours a bellicose policy in dealing with foreign powers"). The Marseillaise (cited above by Rumple) is one of the most jingoistic anthems I know. (Fun fact: for a brief while in 1917, the Russian anthem was the "Worker's Marseillaise," which has completely different lyrics.)
posted by languagehat at 10:06 AM on February 1, 2008

Dominic Muldowney's Oceania 'Tis for Thee from the 1984 soundtrack might fit the bill quite nicely.

From newspeak.org's forums:

Oceania, 'tis for thee.
Strong and Peaceful, Wise and Brave
Fighting the Fight for the whole world to save
We the people will ceaselessly strive
To keep our great revolution alive
Unfurl the banners, look at the screen
Never before has such glory been seen

Oceania, Oceania, Oceania, 'tis for thee.
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for me
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for me
Every Deed, Every Thought, 'tis for thee

email me if you want the mp3 file, it's mighty scarce....
posted by Scoo at 10:25 AM on February 1, 2008

(scott at sign scoo dot com)
posted by Scoo at 10:26 AM on February 1, 2008

"Dixie"? Are you sure you understand the word "jingoistic"?

From Wikipedia: "During the American Civil War, "Dixie" was adopted as a de facto anthem of the Confederacy."

Also from Wikipedia: "(Jingoism) refers to sections of the general public who advocate the use of threats of or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what they perceive as their country's national interests, and colloquially to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others."

So yeah, I'd say the most popular song in the South during the Civil War that glorifies slavery, a song that pops up several times as a symbol of Southern culture in "Gone With the Wind," one of the most jingoistic fictional takes on the period, would indeed be inferred as jingoistic.

But then, what the heck do I know? I'm not the Great Languagehat, Definer of All Things. Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:58 AM on February 1, 2008

I'm genuinely shocked that no one's presented "In America" by Charlie Daniels:

Well the eagle's been flying slow and the flag's been flying low
And a lot of people are saying that America's fixing to fall
But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee
We got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled but she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that they can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back on the path of righteousness
And then God bless America again

And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again

From the sound up in Long Island out to San Francisco Bay
And every thing that's in between them is our home
And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
Cause we'll all stick together and you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks
You just go and lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand

And you never did think that it ever would happen again
In America, did you?
You never did think that we'd ever get together again
Well we damn sure fooled you
We're walking real proud and we're talking real loud again in America
You never did think that it ever would happen again
posted by DWRoelands at 11:15 AM on February 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

"Something along the lines of "the ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah". "

You mean When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again (hurrah hurrah)?
posted by klangklangston at 11:33 AM on February 1, 2008

So yeah, I'd say the most popular song in the South during the Civil War that glorifies slavery, a song that pops up several times as a symbol of Southern culture in "Gone With the Wind," one of the most jingoistic fictional takes on the period, would indeed be inferred as jingoistic.

In other words, you don't care what the word "jingoistic" actually means: the South was bad and evil, so every bad word that exists can be accurately applied to it. Gotcha.
posted by languagehat at 11:49 AM on February 1, 2008

CS Lewis Junior IS America
posted by any major dude at 12:11 PM on February 1, 2008

You don't get much more jingoistic or militarist than the Horst Wessel Lied, recently featured in Jason Lutes' excellent comic Berlin.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:17 PM on February 1, 2008

Flanders & Swann, in their album "At the Drop of a Hat"

The English, the English, the English are best,
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest.

The island expanse of this nation of ours
We've left in the arms of three unfriendly powers.
Examine your Irishman, Welshman or Scot,
You'll find he's a stinker as likely as not.

* * *

The Welshman's dishonest, he cheats when he can.
Both little and dark, more like monkey than man.
He works underground with a lamp in his hat,
And he sings far too loud, far too often, and flat.
posted by KRS at 1:20 PM on February 1, 2008

Men of Harlech. shivers my spine, and i'm not Welsh.
http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/myths/menofharlech.mp3
posted by lemuel at 1:51 PM on February 1, 2008

another version.
http://www.contemplator.com/wales/harlech.html
posted by lemuel at 2:03 PM on February 1, 2008

languagehat : And XMLicious, what exactly is "jingoistic" about the Soviet National Anthem?

It's not jingoistic. You see, I'm invoking Rule 4, Section III, Subsection ii, Paragraph 9 of the AskMeFi Protocols, which permits responses to deal with non-tag "below the fold" portions of the posted question such as the following:

I'm looking for songs that express one's desire to come together, march or do some other vaguely militaristic activity, uphold the notion of our (imagined) homogeneity (of being or purpose), and generally celebrate such things in a song.

I certainly am in favor of the movement to do away with this sort of vulgar licentiousness and require that attention only be paid to the most intellectually virtuous vocabulary used in a post, but even the best of us fall off the wagon once in a while. ☺
posted by XMLicious at 7:08 PM on February 1, 2008

this is a fantastic list, I'm sure i'll refer to it for years to come ;) Thanks everyone.
posted by jak68 at 8:07 PM on February 1, 2008

some of these, by the way, are absolutely hilarious ;)
posted by jak68 at 8:10 PM on February 1, 2008

It's satire but Oingo Boingo's "War Again" might be fun.

"Don't you know we've got smart bombs, it's a good thing that our bombs are clever.
It's a shame that our kids are dumb, but our bombs are smart, what a lucky thing!
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:11 AM on February 2, 2008