Anthems for all occasions
Let’s put aside our protest debates for a moment and talk about the national anthem itself.
Count me in the group that favors an end to the tradition of playing the anthem before every sporting event. Playing it every game trivializes and boredom-izes the anthem.
But dialing back on anthem-playing, that can’t happen, not with America so split over the proper expression of patriotism.
So what can we do? The Undefeated website offered a new take on the old theme of, “We need a new anthem.” It offered 28 anthem alternatives, including “Respect” by Aretha Franklin and “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy.
I have a better idea. For a new anthem, there is no one-sizefits-all song, so let’s have a different national anthem every day. We’ll create a new Cabinet post, secretary of the anthem. That person will be our starspangled DJ. To kick off the master list, here are my sugges- tions (they date me, so let’s hear yours):
“Lean on Me” (Bill Withers) — Can we start with that one today?
“Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin) — We’d have to start the ballgame halfway through the song.
“My Girl” (The Temptations) — Played along with video-screen images of the Statue of Liberty.
“Shotgun” (Junior Walker & the All Stars) — Give the NRA folks their day in the sun.
“I’ve Been Everywhere” (Johnny Cash) — A shout-out to damn near every city in the U.S. of A.
“Tutti Frutti” (Little Richard) — Sometimes we just need a mood lifter. First known song to rhyme frutti with booty.
“Stayin’ Alive” (The Bee Gees) — Some of the anthems will be Hallmark-ish, for special occasions. This one will be played in the wake of a nuclear attack.
“Take This Job and Shove It” (Johnny Paycheck )—The workingman’s anthem.
“Sweet Caroline” (Neil Diamond) — So good. So good. We could also throw in Diamond’s “They’re Coming to America.”
“I’ve Got the World on a String” (Frank Sinatra )— Almost any Sinatra song is anthem-worthy. “My Way,” “High Hopes,” etc.
“Take Five” (The Dave Brubeck Quartet) — Rest your singing voice and groove to this hypnotic flow of notes. Bonus: Brubeck was a son of the Bay Area, born in Concord.
“The Power of Love” (Huey Lewis and the News) — We’ll save Lewis’ “I Need a New Drug” for when we get a covereveryone health care bill.
“My Boyfriend’s Back” (The Angels) — The baddest you’redone-messin’-with-me song.
“What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye) — Ah, the cosmic question.