Thursday, February 21, 2013

Our State Song Sucks!

Here it is.  You can judge for yourself.  Personally, I find the song to be syrupy, and the "ayes" to be distracting.

Alabama
Written by Julia S. Tutweiler

Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee,
From thy Southern shores where groweth,
By the sea thy orange tree.
To thy Northern vale where floweth,
Deep blue the Tennessee,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
 
Broad thy stream whose name thou bearest;
Grand thy Bigbee rolls along;
Fair thy Coosa-Tallapoosa
Bold thy Warrior, dark and strong,
Goodlier than the land that Moses
Climbed lone Nebo's Mount to see,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
 
And so on, this tedious song.  Now I'm not saying that a new state song is a panacea; but we need to have one that is more lively.
 
I have a modest proposal.  "Alabama Song," by Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill.  This song was one in their opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (Aufsteig und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny.)

 
Here's a 1960's rendition of it:

 

3 comments:

  1. This first one does sound saccharine. I like the second one with its oom-pah sound!

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  2. The lady seemed to be obsessed with rivers. The Coosa is nothing to sing about. Why the syes, I don't know. It sounds stilted.

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  3. What does a German opera have to do with a southern state?

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