I think Over There would be great, especially if we sing it over and over again and the get the stadum doing it. If we could have a guy like Metroflip at every Nats games we would always have creative, wonderful cheers. But he can't go to all the games so we all have to do the best we can. I think it is a good idea if people bend a little, sing songs that other people start, and go with the ones that seem to work best.
yea, next time i know flip is leading songs ill make sure i join in. he's such a nice guy and really knows how to rally people behind him.
Re: Re: Re: National team game songs Please tell me we're not going to be doing "Let's all have a disco"...
trekkie cake to pick up on... it's repetitive with simple words trekkie another easy one to do it's an ok idea, the first 4 words will be known by most... but the problem is that 99% won't know anything after that... although, since it's something that is known to the general public... it actually has a chance (in comparison to the two rejections above) very doable... simplistic, people can pick up on it and automatically know how to get involved this seems like a first half chant (or second half of a blow out)... as i don't think it would lend itself towards providing intensity when a goal is needed it's also specific in who it's for, but can be easily edited for any country, i'm sure not sure how well the fourth line will get picked up, but the rest of it is cake... i have no idea how this would go (beat and what not... not effectiveness) and again, for a specific opponent trekkie good lord is this one trekkie as for songs like god bless america and america the beautiful... they're ok... if they are repeated *several* times... although a lot (most) of the people aren't going to know many of the words remember, it's form follows function... our function is provide the loudest, most unified support we can for the national team... that means that our form must be simple to incorporate as many people as possible... if you make it simple and easy to pick up, and then press on others to join in... they will join in, and will know what to do
Ive always wondered in our individualistic American mindsets have prevented us as a whole from being able to just do something all together. Look at the Koreans...holy smokes was that impressive. I even saw Korea play in the Olympics back in '96 and it was the same thing...they were so freaking organized it was scary.
My turn I'll chime in now. Standing blindly by K.I.S.S. is stupid. You need to have some creativity and a little variety in length otherwise, it gets very boring saying the same 4 lines or chants over and over and over again. Simple chants/songs do work yes. Some I can think of that have worked in Korea/Home soil games. -oooohhh lets go USA. -USA, USA -ole ole ole ole USA USA -Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap, Clap Clap Clap Clap US -USaaaaaaaaaAAAA (of notAbbot fame in Korea) -We are the Yanks, We are the Yanks, We are, we are we are the yanks. -Oh when the yanks, go marching in -Estadas Unidos -Soy un Gringo -SuperPower SuperPower, USA -(one half section) E.E. (other half section) U.U. At the same time, a little more complicated things work well too. -God Bless America -America the Beautiful -Everywhere we go (call and response) -The Sombro song for Mexico (by the second half in Korea, we had almost the whole section singing that) -Over there And there are numerous other chants and songs that work on the spur of the moment thing and specific to the opponent such as "Stick to cricket" The "La Norte" game vs uRgay. La Norte did bring a good amount of passion to that game, however I was not too impressed with their lack of interest in singing English songs. maybe at that game, they just didnt know enough but "COME ON effing sing" was heard from them during spanish songs, but they were very mute during english ones. That being said, I was very impressed with the ohhhhhh lets go USA chant and with the drummer. All it takes is a little time to listen to em once or twice and then learn them. Its not hard. How do you think I started sining songs at US games? 13
Some good posts here. I agree with Ed that a little creativity goes a long way. I suppose a balance between creative approaches and KISS songs is best. I have alot of respect for the Red Devils (the supporters' group for the South Korean team). They showed a lot of organization and passion. I read that President Kim Dae Jung held a reception for the leaders of the Red Devils at the Blue House, the Korean equivalent of the White House. Can you imagine President Bush hosting a reception for Ed, Metroflip, Bigdog, Ratface, Cos and the rest of the de facto leaders???? I don't think we should try to imitate or match the Korean unity. They sang the same 2 songs over and over again, and got the whole stadium to do it. My hat is off to them, they did a great job. But we Americans are too independent and individualistic to stick with something like that. I was told in Korea that the Korean press actually praised the creativity of the American fans, saying that we made things up as we went along.
I've always wanted to get a good "Battle Hymn of the Republic" going but the Southerners never want any part of it.
Do we have any middlebury College grads on this board? At their hockey games they sing a great song which would work wonders for the nats... It starts out: Tiny Bubbles In My Beer Makes Me Happy And goes on and on...but I only remember these three lines..I am sure a middlebury grad could fill in the rest.
I thought things worked very well in Korea, hats off to Flip, Tard, Mike F, Big Dog, Monty, and everyone else. It was a fantastic time, singing with my countrymen. I agree that KISS works well, but there absolutely is room for creativity. It only took a few moments with Flip and the NY Crew to learn the Poland song, among others. I had actuall come up with a few, that after others heard them a few times, had no problems singing. For example: We've got Beasley, Beasley, Beasley on the wing We,ve got Beasley, Beasley, Beasley on the wing We've got Beasley, Beasley, Beasley Beasley, Beasley, Beasley We've got Beasley, Beasley, Beasley on the wing This can be done with many other combos, like Mathis scoring goals, Friedel in the goal, etc... Another one that caught on was to Old MacDonald, and basically said: Bruce Arena has a team, e-i-e-i-o; on the team he has a Wolfe, with a goal, goal here, etc. . . Then went to Goose who had a stop, stop here, but that got changed to an own goal here and and own goal there, in Korea! Anyway, the important thing is, once in the stadium, or in bars before and after the game, when anyone is singing anything in support, sing with them! Over There is a fantasic idea. It would be incredible if someone could record an "official" version. That way it could be played during tailgates and other gatherings. Maybe even get some airtime. One last thing, I have nearly completed my book on the World Cup and hope to have it out sometime in mid to late April. It contains many stories about Yanks gathering to sing. It gets my juices flowing writing about those fantastic times. I can't wait to do them again.
tiny bubbles... in my beer... makes me happy.. makes me feel queer? i always thought it was 'tiny bubbles in my wine'.
just wondering jmeisen, but how many US games have you attended? People I see posting here that have been to many US games have no problems with singing songs.
Why don't the folks who feel strongly about having certain songs work together to come up with a US Men's game songbook that can be posted and/or made into small doublesided handbills for distribution at games (doesn't have to be US Supporter or Sam's Army affiliated). I think the majority (and myself included) doesn't really care what is sung as long as it's coordinated. It would be helpful if the "song group" could work out a system and spread themselves around the section so everyone could follow along better (this also helps the new folks learn and if everyone is singing in unison the non singers REALLY stick out more and they need to ask themselves why they're there). While the NJB may come up with a clever song on the spot, if they're in the middle of the section the folks above them won't be able to follow along (think about open holes like Foxboro, it's really hard to hear there). Trying new songs on the spot is fine if its 10-20 people you're trying to lead. However here it's 100s (and God willing eventually thousands!) so chants kind of need to be worked out ahead of time if you want folks to be in unison. Leadership and coordination are really needed to make this work. I agree we're not singing a Verdi opera so people should be able to just follow along but if we're trying to present a united front AND get folks not in the supporter sections involved, I think a little effort needs be made to make it as easy as possible. K
Re: My turn I have to agree with you on that one. I don't really have a problem picking up on the spanish songs because i can speak it pretty well, but im sure alot of people dont understand what the eff we're saying. That's a language barrier thing, which there's got to be a solution for. I think the idea K had(the song card/paper thing) could include a couple spanish songs with the english translations underneath of them. I think "soy un gringo" stuck well because, even though it's spanish, it's short, easy, and self-explanatory even if you don't know spanish. some of the longer ones can get pretty confusing tho.
Thanks to K and others for their thoughts. Actually, the old Sam's Army webpage had a section called the songbook where the lyrics to suggested chants, including some we are discussing here, were printed. Aida was included! People used to print it out and bring it to games. However, this and other practices were severely criticized in discussions here and elsewhere and the practice seems to have fallen out of favor. There was a guy in Korea who tried this too. I won't name him because he is really a sincere supporter. He had double-sided photocopies of song lyrics and he passed lots of them out at the places where fans gathered before games. As far as I know no one paid the least bit of attention to them. The problems of silent fans in the supporters' section is a vexing one. As I have said many times, it is hard to figure out an answer for it. I don't think song sheets will help "expose" them.
do people completely have a bug up their @$$? we live in the one of the biggest countries in the world (both population and land area wise.) not only that, but it is a country that isn't soccer hungry. we need all the help we can get to unify since we are all so spread out from each other. not only that, but we are just emerging. good grief!
In honor of the Nats and Jack Edwards "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword His truth is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on." CAN YOU DIG IT!!!!
How about: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Yanks We're trampling down the pitch over all you fucking wanks We're gonna bomb your ass and send in all our tanks. The Yanks keep marching on! Glory! Glory! USA! Glory! Glory! USA! Glory! Glory! USA! The Yanks keep marching on. Sachin