Springsteen and patriotism

You are showing your hind quarters with the second reference :eek: The 1812Overture has nothing to do with the US War of 1812- sorry my friend- it is about Napoleon and the invasion of Russia, (you know when the bells ring? That's the French defeat and it's the bells of Moscow ringing in celebration) and it is played because it was written with parts for cannon which dovetails nicely with the American tradition of 4th of July fireworks. nothing etc..." then I got nada to recommend otherwise as a 4th of July song.:

People of a certain age know that the 1812 Overture was written to help Quaker sell its puffed cereal with the jingle:

"This is the cereal that's shot from guns..."
 
Bullet to your point about musical associations- I agree that different songs do evoke different meanings among different folks and heaven knows I've been in enough good times where people blare the refrain "Born in the USA" and that's the association. I personally like Springsteen's music.
And yet - the lyrics aren't really all that opaque in Born in the USA and really you don't have to have a degree in comparative music to see that it's not exactly a celebratory song that really brings out what the 4th is all about for most folks. Lyrics do matter - at least to me, and I personally just wouldn't associate that song as a July 4th tune any more than I would suggest listening to Country Joe and the Fish on Veterans Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuUBCF3KKxc. But you know- it's a personal deal- there is no right and wrong to these kind of conversations and there isn't supposed to be.

Musical association is pretty powerful- I often find that songs bring back really strong, intense memories of either where you were when you first heard it played, or what you were listening to when something really memorable occured. When MTV came out- I hated the whole concept because I thought that it essentially manufactured associations rather than leaving you with a memory that you created yourself (And I guess I wasn't alone because the original premise of MTV has essentially died). Some songs are always gonna stay associated with unique events for all of us- and at least for me, I'm transported back in time to that event when I hear them. It's one of the really nice things about music. Of course it drives my wife and daughter crazy because when listening to XM Satellite radio in the car we always seem to be on Channels 60's on 6 or 70s on 7. Their associations with those tunes are probably mostly intense boredom:rolleyes:

Bottom line- this is supposed to be a general "sitting at the bar having a beer shooting the bull" type conversation so let's make sure that nobody takes any of this personally- it's the ultimate "nobody's opinion is more or less valid than the next" topic:thumb:

Whenever I hear any Dave Matthews track from "Under The Table And Dreaming" or "Crash," I'm back in a flannel shirt on a weekend from VMI at some mixer at Sweet Briar. Never fails.

Embarrassed to say, but Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" always takes me back to Ring Figure. Must have heard that song a million times that weekend. Knock it down, but it gets up again.
 
Whenever I hear any Dave Matthews track from "Under The Table And Dreaming" or "Crash," I'm back in a flannel shirt on a weekend from VMI at some mixer at Sweet Briar. Never fails.

Embarrassed to say, but Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" always takes me back to Ring Figure. Must have heard that song a million times that weekend. Knock it down, but it gets up again.

I'm a tad bit older than you Sprog so I don't really know any of those tunes- but that phenomena is exactly what I am talking about. There are songs I don't even particularly like that bring back a rush of memories for me- if I hear "Close to you" by the Carpenters- I am almost instantly back in 1971 on Long Island on the Meadowbrook Parkway with my now gone Uncle on our way to Jones Beach. Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" has me back in HS in my parents house and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" sends me back to Ft Benning GA . The associative powers of music are really pretty marvelous assuming that it brings up something you wish to remember. Conversely To this day I can not listen to Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven". I have no desire to break out in tears in public and I literally can not hear this song without doing so. I'm glad it's not on anyone's regular play list.
 
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It is amazing how certain songs can bring you back to a certain time and place.
"Tears In Heaven" can always break me up. "Lady In Red" is another great one.
 
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Guess I should stick to bar debates centered around "who is the better QB" or "which superhero is dorkier -- Aquaman or the Flash" :thumb:

None of the above.... no member of the Justice League is dorky, the Avengers on the other hand....
 
How about a song about the real American Dream

Bare Naked Ladies - If i had a million dollars

Oops their Canadian
 
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