What would make the best national anthem for the USA?

[NightTrain]

[blm]

1. Don't Tread on Me

www.americalivefree.org

MP3 at the link

Don't Tread on Me


In some old dusty attic
Undisturbed for many years
There lies a tattered banner
That is stained with blood and tears
By men who knew that freedom
Must be fought for by the free
And died to save a ragged flag
That said Don't Tread on Me

Don't Tread on Me
I'm a rattlesnake with
Diamonds down my back
When other men retreat
That's just the time that I attack
Because a dream that's worth defending
Is a dream that's bound to be
A ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me

Two hundred years of glory
And the glory's just begun
We may have lost some battles
But these colors never run
We drew the line at Valley Forge
We held at Bunker Hill
The cannon smoke is lifting
I can see that banner still

Don't Tread on me
I'm a mountain lion
And courage is my name
I tamed a wild country
But I'm wild just the same
And from that rocky Boston harbor
To the California Sea
A ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me

This nation isn't what we've done
It's what we've got to do
Remember that United States
Can only start with you
We better be recalling
What this country's all about
And rally round that ragged flag
And hear the people shout

Don't Tread on Me
I'm a grizzly bear
That's not afraid to bite
I don't look for trouble
But when trouble comes I fight
Because my daddy taught me freedom
Has no lifetime guarantee
A ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me

The winds of change are blowing
And they're sure to shake this land
We stood all we can take
And now it's time to take a stand
Let's tell the men who make the laws
In Washington D.C.
Unfurl again
That ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me

Don't Tread on me
I'm an eagle
Who is clawing at the sky
I want that banner waving up
Where eagles dare to fly
And blazing in the sunlight
So that friend and foe can see
A ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me

Don't Tread on us
We're Americans
And we were born to lead
Our skin is every color
And our faith is every creed
We are 300 million people
But on one thing we agree
A ragged flag that said
Don't Tread on Me



Michael O'Donoghue
© 1983 Least Loved Music, BMI

[Fovea]

2. Looking at the Bush Version of Amerika

I think "Dirty Laundry", 'All She Wants to do is Dance' by Don Henley, or 'White Wedding' by Billy Idol would work equally well.

[Deja Q]

3. "Material Girl"

or any other 1980s pro-money-themed song.

[Benhurst]

4. Until the Republic is restored in 2005:

The Horst Wessel Song

[Bozita]

5. "Who let the dogs out?"

It just kinda fits the times.

[_NorCal_D_]

24. LOL

Imagine putting your hand over your heart for that! B-)

[OneBlueSky]

6. This Land Is Your Land

something with real meaning, that everyone can sing . . . and it would pay tribute to a great American songwriter . . .

[meti57b]

10. oopsie. .. sorry, I zipped straight to "reply" and didn't see your post

[leftofthedial]

14. I second that!

that's the one.

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. I'll put my vote here as well.

eom

[Dover]

20. Yep....this one should have been in the poll

It's a winner.

[Padraig18]

25. Add my vote here.

Excellent choice! :thumbsup:

[Redneck Socialist]

28. Put me down for...

This land is your land.

[Elidor]

7. Perfect Sense by Roger Waters

"And now...our corporate anthem:

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and sense
Pounds, shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense"

[illini]

8. "Im a Nazi" that spoof on Lush Dimballs.

nt

[meti57b]

9. This Land is Your Land ....

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

snip

the rest at:

http://www.arlo.net/lyrics/this-land.shtml

[LibDemAlways]

11. I like the original lyrics of the 1940 Manuscript version

particularly these verses:

Was a high wall there that tried to stop me.
A sign was painted said: Private Property
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
(God blessed America for me)

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
(God blessed America for me)



Words to chew on.

[OneBlueSky]

16. actually, Woody wrote this as a response to . . .

"God Bless America," which he considered a rather smarmy little ditty . . .

[blm]

18. A definite contender.

.

[Bridget Burke]

12. Another vote for "This Land Is Your Land..."

"As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!"

--As long as I'm posting lyrics, here's Steve Earle's "Christmas In Washington" from El Corazon:

It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Of things not gettin' worse
Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'

I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
An uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means

Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
There's killers on the highway
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town

Chorus

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Chorus

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. There used to be a website...

...from an organization trying to make "We Shall Overcome" the National Anthem.

[alfredo]

15. I think this one should be our song.

Why Does It Hurt When I Pee
Frank Zappa


Shortly after his liaison with the taco stand lady, JOE makes a
horrible discovery...

Joe:
Why does it hurt when I pee?
Why does it hurt when I pee?
I don't want no doctor
To stick no needle in me
Why does it hurt when I pee?
I got it from the toilet seat
I got it from the toilet seat
It jumped right up
'N' grabbed my meat
Got it from the toilet seat
My balls feel like a pair of maracas
My balls feel like a pair of maracas
Oh God I probably got the
Gon-o-ka-ka-khackus!
My balls feel like a pair of maracas
Ai-ee-ai-ee-ahhhh!
Why does it
Why does it
Why does it
Why does it hurt...when I
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Piperay]

19. "This Land is Your Land"...

WONDERFUL meaning and a reminder to politicians and the people too just WHO this country belongs to...EVERYONE.

[qwertyMike]

21. Comfortably NUMB

[trof]

22. "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child."

[onebigbadwulf]

23. Right now?

The most fitting song would be Master of Puppets by Metallica.

[SOteric]

26. You load 16 Tons, and whaddyou get....?

Another day older and deeper in debt...

[Aristus]

27. I'm kinda partial to the one we have now.

A good (but not brilliant) poem, written by a lawyer, during a battle (that ended in a draw), during a war (that ended in a draw) against an enemy (that is now our closest ally) and set to the tune of an old English drinking song. What could be more American than that?

I DO hate they way the freeps have coopted the anthem, the flag and all the other patriotic gee-gaws we have.