September 16, 2001

12:08 AM

I think this crapis so freakin' offensive. Have you heard this s**t on the radio? The Jerry Maguire/Titanic-remixes of thousands of people dying a senseless, barbaric death? Who decided this was a good idea?
posted by adrober (27 comments total)

I want to retain my usual New York City blase' and chide people for their tackiness, for their garish displays of manufactured caring.

But, hell... if this is what gets them through, who am I to judge? I can't say that I'm completely sophisticated about everything in my life. To someone, somewhere, I must seem a dabbler, a sycophant, an uneducated rube about whatever cultural indicator they hold dear.

There are worse things, there are worse sentiments. I would hope they'd be spending their time educating themselves, finding a path to peace. But unsophisticated, lowbrow people who listen to pandering, facile songs are Americans, too, right?

Although maybe the hardest kind of tolerance for me to learn is the type that threatens my innate elitism.
posted by anildash at 12:15 AM on September 16, 2001

I remember coming home from a night out on the wednesday night (i'm in Melbourne, Australia, this is 24 hours after it all happend) and one of our radio stations was playing Bridge Over Troubled Water intertwined with soundbytes from all the coverage.. it was the most depressing thing I'd heard from it all, I couldn't listen.
posted by cheaily at 12:20 AM on September 16, 2001

Dammit, I'm gonna have to barracade myself in my house and cut off all outside communication in order to maintain my sanity for the next several months. Nice knowing you all...
posted by Hackworth at 12:36 AM on September 16, 2001

Just wait until the T-shirts start coming out...
posted by mattpusateri at 12:47 AM on September 16, 2001

No. . .not the T-shirts. I know they are coming like I know we'll have no milk in the stores before a snowstorm. And the song, not any song, but THE song. That Lee Greenwood (?) song about being proud to be an American. I am proud. I don't need some whiny song to tell my fellow citizens about it. I don't need to chant U-S-A, U-S-A at a street corner like I'm cheering for the freakin' Olympics. It's been less than a week. It's been days. Are we really at the singing, cheering, chanting stage? Can we mourn for one minute? or did the news burn though our mourning?
posted by edwardko at 1:09 AM on September 16, 2001

feelingnaucious
posted by feelinglistless at 1:38 AM on September 16, 2001

I love being an American, so don't take this wrong. Being also a Texan you get exposed to Country music, but if I hear Faith Hill's National Anthem one more time, I may vomit.
posted by bjgeiger at 2:35 AM on September 16, 2001

I'm filing this one away with the fake "I'm OK" web site posts, the e*Bay auctions of WTC and Pentagon debris, the emails dunning for money for fake "donation" sites, the ACLU trying to ban a moment of silence for the victims and the gasoline price-gouging, just off the top of my head.

As the Roman Seneca said, "Ignis aurum probat, miseria fortes homines." Fire proves gold, difficult times prove men. Well, now we know what these people are made of...
posted by JParker at 2:38 AM on September 16, 2001

Ugh — it's just as I feared. He's at number 1, 4, and 10 on the Amazon charts (and Nostradamus books account for 2 of the top 10). The Apocalypse is nigh, friends.
posted by sixdifferentways at 2:42 AM on September 16, 2001

Sorry-I already got the tshirt on friday-they were giving them away with each donation to the Red Cross along with free flags-but the shirts say"united we stand" so perhaps this isn't what you are talking about?
posted by bunnyfire at 2:48 AM on September 16, 2001

Sorry-I already got the tshirt on friday-they were giving them away with each donation to the Red Cross along with free flags-but the shirts say"united we stand" so perhaps this isn't what you are talking about?
posted by bunnyfire at 2:48 AM on September 16, 2001

Chill out folks, it didn't really happen. There never was a World Trade Center!
It wasn't blown up, it has just been removed from movies and television to protect our sensibilities.


Winston Smith
posted by DBAPaul at 6:08 AM on September 16, 2001

I'd sure like to see Mr. Greenwood donate *all* of his ASCAP/BMI royalty checks for the months of September through October to the Red Cross.

Anything less would be criminal, especially after the extra hell his song is putting some of us through right now.
posted by tpoh.org at 7:18 AM on September 16, 2001

Why can't they just drag out "From A Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings," revive the career of Bette Midler, and leave everyone else alone?

"Stuck in a Moment" (sans soundclips) is probably my favorite U2 song from their latest album. Just the thought of it mucked up with W's "we're fixin' to get even and whup some terrorists" blabber makes me truly nauseous, so I can't bring myself to click the link there. I wish they'd just go listen to "Peace on Earth" and leave the songs I really like alone. If they touch "One," I'm moving to Canada.

At work on Friday, something truly out of my nightmares happened -- out of one of the conference rooms, some red-white-and-blue-wearing coworkers started blasting a soundbite-laden version of "Proud to Be An American." And singing along. That's when I left for the day. This isn't a football game. I can't rah-rah-America along when there's 5000 people -- the population of the high school I attended -- buried in Manhattan.

My boyfriend lives near DC and claims that this sort of thing, and the cheesy e-mail forwards, isn't really happening at all out there. His theory was that the attacks are too fresh and too horrible to be smoothed over with this brand of patriotic goop.
posted by kittyb at 7:20 AM on September 16, 2001

I downloaded about fifteen of these "tribute" songs yesterday. And, without exception, they're bad. Really bad. The worst is an "Adaptation" of Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" with these lines:

It's the time to show the world we're strong
We won't be terrorized
Evil's not allowed to win
When you've got heaven on your side.

And then later in the song:

And we're standing strong as Americans
Where at least we know we're free
And we won't forget the ones who died
On that Tuesday Mor-ning.

Oh, it's the worst.

On the flipside, though, VH1 has been playing a tribute song that has Jeff Buckley singing "Hallelujah" and it's amazing and beautiful and very tasteful. There's no tacky sound clips or lyric changes. It's simple and wonderful. If you can't find it, look for Rufus Wainwright's version of "Hallelujah." It's on the "Shreck" soundtrack and it's fantastic.
posted by ColdChef at 7:25 AM on September 16, 2001

Truly grim ... truly pathetic. Please ban this radio station and avoid listening to their tripe at all costs. Shame on them for producing this s**t.

The unfortunate part is that this is just beginning.
posted by orpheuswish at 7:51 AM on September 16, 2001

I predicted back in February that Lee Greenwood would have his career revitalized after W. became president. I had no idea it would be in such a disastrous manner, though.
posted by keli at 8:30 AM on September 16, 2001

it was mentioned earlier that live released an mp3 on tuesday afternoon as a reaction to the WTC catastrophe. personally, i really like the song, as i have liked most of the music ed & company have released. but then i turn on the radio friday morning and i hear the sound-bited (sound-bit?) version. this kind of thing makes me ill. many people turn to music for solace at a time like this, either as a means of calming or as a driving fuel. but i don't need help with placing songs in a context that fits my situation. i have my own powers of association.

where did all of this start? i know that this kind of thing seemed to first spring up around the time of the gulf war, but it might have happened earlier. or do we just blame the whole phenomena on simon & garfunkel?
posted by grabbingsand at 8:54 AM on September 16, 2001

I heard one of these bastardised songs (Sarah McLachlan's I Will Remember You) after the shootings at Columbine, and I called the radio station which played it and the DJ became highly defensive "I just play what I'm told to, lady." Clearly I was not the only person to have called in with outrage over that. I cannot believe that it's been done again, and to so many songs this time around, including the same McLachlan song. It's disgusting opportunistic emotional manipulation that plays well with the teen girls who saw Titanic a dozen times in the theatre (I'm suprised we haven't heard a cut-up version of the Celine Dion song yet, thinking about Titanic) and live and die by pop radio and MTV's TRL, but completely eludes the sensibilities of adults.

And lest we lay some blame on the artists, country singer JoDee Messina reported to the WSJ (see the front page of Friday's edition) that her song which was defiled was used without the knowledge or permission of herself, her publisher or her record company. But, of course, it's a catch-22 situation: would you want to be the artist who sues over this unauthorised use?
posted by Dreama at 9:50 AM on September 16, 2001

"Why can't they just drag out "From A Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings," revive the career of Bette Midler, and leave everyone else alone?"

: waving hands : Shhhhhhh.........don't give anyone any ideas....
posted by metrocake at 10:06 AM on September 16, 2001

I can't wait for the club mix so I can dance and roll X as I listen to people die under Victor Calderone's WTC Ultra-Remix of Destiny's Child's 'Survivor'.
posted by ao4047 at 10:16 AM on September 16, 2001

Being in the military, I can't tell you how many times I've had to endure the Greenwood song...I'll admit, the very first time I heard it, back in 1987, I did get just a slight frisson. Now it just makes my ears bleed.

Give me the Star-Spangled Banner or "America The Beautiful" anyday as musical reminders of our nation's origins and strengths.
posted by davidmsc at 10:40 AM on September 16, 2001

"This isn't a football game. I can't rah-rah-America along when there's 5000 people -- the population of the high school I attended -- buried in Manhattan."

That sums it up for me. Lucky for me, none of these links worked.

[In the interest of total disclosure; I am flying the flag]
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 11:21 AM on September 16, 2001

Much too late, but note that Newgrounds has a collection of Flash tributes to WTC bombing and the rest of the attacks. Personally, well, most of them are pretty amateurish and at the same level as the songs in the KISS link. The one that really struck me wasn't technically impressive, but spare and emotionally compelling: a victim's eye view
posted by dhartung at 4:27 PM on September 16, 2001

I just lost everything I was writing and am now very pissed off and nauseated.
posted by kbutz1 at 11:31 PM on September 19, 2001

I am sorry, but I have to disagree with all of you who have developed such anger, frustration and nausea because of a 2 1/2 minute song that gets played each and every hour on every pop and country station across the country. I don't remember hearing about all of these same feelings when Blake Shelton's song "Austin" was and still is playing 4 million times a day or when LoneStar's "I'm Already There" was and still is played 4 million times a day, or when Dale Earnhardt's death theme was and still is played 4 million times a day. God forbid they play a song, remake or not, that symbolizes our country strength, history, pride, and spirit and that it should inconvenience you so terribly.

Maybe you don't care for the song, but the majority of patriotic and caring Americans in this country do. Maybe we need to have more songs that symbolize our nation and our citizens played more regularly than on Independence Day and Memorial Day, or is that an inconvenience too.

Maybe in this time of national tragedy due to this attack on our country these songs are an example to our elderly who have been through these times and fought these wars that our country and what they fought and died for is still in our hearts and minds. Maybe they are an example to our young people who are hearing them for the first time that the rest of us feel that this country is worth protecting and fighting for and therfore so should they. Maybe they are comforting to the families of those who perished in these attacks to know that the rest of the citizens of this country are angry about what happened and are going to show these terrorists and the world that we will not stand for the slaughter of our own people.

Maybe all of you can keep your mouths shut, place your hand on your heart, sing along or think to yourselves about your role as an American. Most of you, myself included, are the same people telling all of the overbearing mothers and religious nuts to turn the F---ING channel when they see their children listening to or watching something a little tasteless or a little violent on television and radio. Well how about taking your own advice and take a little bit of responsibility for yourselves if you don't like the songs and turn the F---ING channel.

I think that the major downside to the events that took place last Tuesday was not the loss of life of thousands of husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, employees, brothers, sisters, friends and strangers. Nor was it the feeling of fear or helplessness we feel towards these terrorists and their actions. Instead it was the feeling of inconvenience that we all will now face as American citizens. We no longer will be able to do the things that we used to as we used to do them. We'll have to listen to the I'm Proud to be an American song over and over and over again. OH GOD SAVE US FROM THIS HORROR OR TAKE US NOW!!!!

Again, maybe we should have these songs playing all of the time and not just on national holidays and during periods of national tragedy. No one bitches when status quo says we should put our flags out three times a year. You all do the same mundane things every single day. I guarantee that all of you will eat your McDonald's #1 Value meal each weekday and on the weekends haul your ass down to Bubba's Liquor Store to spend $12 on an 18 pack of Strohs, and everyday go to the 7-11 and pay $4 for your daily pack of 20 cancer sticks in a box of Marlboro Red which you will inevitably smack the lid against your palm 68 times so as not to waste a few bits of TABACKY. The same things everyday, everyday, everyday. No one makes you do these things that will ultimately kill you. You as an American have the right to make these decisions yourself. If I sell these things in my store and you come to my store I am not shoving them down your throat and forcing you to buy them before you walk out that door marked EXIT.

You as a citizen of the United States of America enjoy the right to come into my shop and buy or not buy anything I am offering. You also have the right to change the station when the dreaded song comes on. Try the Alternative station. I know they aren't playing it.

Don't get me wrong here. I am getting a little sick of the song too. However, I got me one of them new cars with 12 FM presets and all I gotta do is push that thar button and it plays sumthin else, YEEHAW!
posted by kbutz1 at 12:09 AM on September 20, 2001