Thursday, July 1, 2010

1776 Redux

I very much enjoy the restored director's cut of 1776.

It aint history. It's a musical.

Yet, it captures the spirit of the time. That spirit thing is a bit of a cliche. One of my favorites -s-.

Given that fact, it is a good way to at least introduce what happened in the forming of the Republic.

And since we are in a neo battle to restore said Republic, it's noteworthy to compare and contrast two of the songs.

Check them out:

Cool Cool Considerate Men

Dickinson:
Oh say do you see what I see?
Congress sitting here in sweet serenity
I could cheer; the reason's clear
For the first time in a year Adams isn't here
And look, the sun is in the sky
A breeze is blowing by, and there's not a single fly

I sing hosanna, hosanna
Hosanna, hosanna
And it's cool

Come ye cool cool conservative men
The likes of which may never be seen again
We have land, cash in hand
Self-command, future planned
Fortune flies, society survives
In neatly ordered lives with well-endowered wives

We sing hosanna, hosanna
To our breeding and our banner
We are cool

Come ye cool cool considerate set
We'll dance together to the same minuet
To the right, ever to the right
Never to the left, forever to the right
May our creed be never to exceed
Regulated speed, no matter what the need

We sing hosanna, hosanna
Enblazoned on our banner
Is keep cool

What we do we do rationally
We never ever go off half-cocked, not we
Why begin till we know that we can win
And if we cannot win why bother to begin?

Rutledge:
We say this game's not of our choosing
Why should we risk losing?

All:
We are cool

To the right, ever to the right
Never to the left, forever to the right
We have gold, a market that will hold
Tradition that is old, a reluctance to be bold.

Dickinson:
I sing hosanna, hosanna
In a sane and lucid manner
We are cool

All:
Come ye cool cool considerate men
The likes of which may never be seen again
With our land, cash in hand
Self-command, future planned
And we'll hold to our gold
Tradition that is old, reluctant to be bold.
We say this game's not of our choosing
Why should we risk losing?

We cool, cool, cool
Cool, cool, cool
Cool cool men.


Is Anybody There?

Charles Thompson

I have been in anticipation of receiving a reply
In response to my last fifteen dispatches
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody care?


John Adams

Does anybody see what I see?
They want me to quit
They say, John, give up the fight
Still, to England, I say, Good night forever, good night!
For I have crossed the Rubicon
Let the bridge be burned behind me, come what may,
Come what may
COMMITMENT!
The croakers all say we'll rue the day
There'll be Hell to pay in fiery Purgatory
Through all the gloom, through all the gloom
I can see the rays of ravishing light
And glory.
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does any body see what I see?
I see fireworks,
I see the pageant and pomp and parade
I hear the bells ringing out
I hear the cannons roar
I see Americans - all Americans
Free, forever more

How quiet, how quiet the chamber is
How silent, how silent the chamber is
Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody see
What I see?

So. Quite a difference, no matter how you define the songs, especially the first.

Nixon made the people involved pull Cool Cool Considerate Men. He felt it was an affront to his fellow conservatives. Yeah. The Neocons hate it.

Be it a leftist ruse to portray many of the Founders as selfish materialistic bastards, or an honest assessment that some were less than gung ho to rock the boat, or that there were those who professed to be one way and actually were another aka RINO, it couldn't contrast more with Is Anybody There?

John Adams plaintive cry, alone and in almost dark contrasts with 'Cool' with many and fully lit.

Adams actually foresaw the things spoken of in the song.

It is the backbone of resolve and the kind we need now to renew the Republic.

My vision is for Freedom to be renewed and those who obstructed it to be tried and found guilty of treason and sedition and thus punished.

May we never get lost in the oohs and aahs of fireworks.

Rather, may we create our own sparks.

As Mr. Adams found he was not alone and moxy and determination to be Free, scars flaws and all prevailed.

So mote it be again.

2 comments:

teacher said...

Glad to see you're back

Mike H said...

Still pretty deep in alligators.

Much work to be done.

Will work in stuff here though.
TY