4th of July

[P.O.U.M]

Happy Bourgeois Independence Day to all the American comrades!

Its one of the better holidays in my opinion. Fireworks become readily avialable everywhere...even though theyre illegal here. And vodka + fireworks = one fun experince.:D

[klynn44]

There's no better way to represent "the bombs bursting in air."
Katherine

[P.O.U.M]

still...bright lights and colors with burstingness of the firework...it appeals to the drunks...i like fireworks. though my niegborhood sounds like a world war 2 battlefield last night. Seriously, from all the movies and video games of WWII reminded me of WWII. I wanted to go kill some nazis. Loud explosions in the background that sounded like artillery shells exploding. Every 30 seconds or so there would be a bang that sounded like a rifle going off. And this went off for an hour. So for an hour it sounded like WW2 battle being reinacted. It was cool, i thought....i use to be really absessed with WW2 when i was alittle kid and didnt realize that war is horrible. except the class war;)

[proletarianrevo]

I found this Lyric, by The Band, which I think is very good, because it deals with the bloody history of the United States, a very exciting subject that people here in Europe never have had much interest in.

Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train
   'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again
   In the winter of '65, we were hungry, just barely alive
   By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember oh so well

   The night they drove Old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
   The night they drove Old Dixie down and the people were singin', they went  
   La-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la  la-la-la,  la-la-la-la

   Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she called to me
   "Virgil, quick, come see, there goes Robert E. Lee!"
   Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good
   Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest
   But they should never have taken the very best

   The night they drove old Dixie down and the bells were ringing
   The night they drove old Dixie down and all the people were singin', they went  
   Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

   Like my father before me, I will work the land
   And like my brother before me, who took a rebel stand

   He was just eighteen, proud and brave  
   But a Yankee laid him in his grave
   I swear by the mud below my feet
   You can't raise a Caine back up when he's in defeat

   The night they drove old Dixie oown and the bells were ringing
   The night they drove old Dixie down and all the people were singin', they went  
   Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

   The night they drove old Dixie down and all the bells were ringing
   The night they drove old Dixie down and the people were singin', they went  
   Na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na  na-na-na,  na-na-na-na

[proletarianrevo]

I also recommend comrades to read a series of articles by Alan Woods on the History of the United States, which are very very exciting.

And the best hymn ever made, in contrast to the petty nationalist hymns:

This Land is Your Land

(by Woody Guthrie)


This land is your land,
This land is my land,
From California
To the New York Island,
From the redwood forest,
To the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking,
That ribbon of highway,
I saw above me
That endless skyway,
I saw below me
That golden valley.
This land was made for you and me.  

I've roamed and rambled
And I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

The sun comes shining
As I was strolling
The wheat fields waving
And the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

As I was walkin'
I saw a sign there
And that sign said no trespassin'
But on the other side
It didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

In the squares of the city
In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office
I see my people
And some are grumblin'
And some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me
As I go walking
That freedom highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me

[Red Student]

I like the way this thread is turning out! (just keep LightRider out of here):

A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile and I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while but February made me shiver with every paper I delivered, bad news on the door step, I couldn't take one more step, I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride but something touched me deep inside, the day, the music, died. So...

CHORUS
Bye, bye Miss American Pie drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry an them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye singin this will be the day that I die, this will be the day that I die.

Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above, if the bible tells you so, and do you believe in rock n' roll, can music save your mortal soul and can you teach me how to dance real slow? Well I know that you're in love with him cuz I saw you dancin in the gym you both kicked off your shoes and I dig those rhythm and blues. I was a lonely teenage bronkin buck with a pink carnation and a pick up truck but I knew I was out of luck, the day, the music, died. I started singin...

Chorus

Now for ten years we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a rollin stone but that's not how it used to be, when the jester sang for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean and a voice that came from you and me, oh and while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown the courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned, and while Lenin read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park and we sang dirges in the dark, the day, the music, died. We were singin...

Chorus

Helter Skelter in a summer swelter the birds flew off with a fallout shelter, eight miles high and fallin fast, its the land that falled on the grass the players tried for a forward pass with the jester on the sidelines in a cast, now the half-time air was sweet perfume while the sergeants played a marching tune we all got up to dance oh but we never got the chance oh as the players tried to take the field the marching band refused to yield do you recall what was revealed, the day, the music, died. We started singin...

Chorus

Oh and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space with no time left to start again, so come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack Flash sat on a candle stick because fire is the devils only friend, oh and as I watched him on the stage, my hands were clinched in fists of rage, no angel born in hell could break that satan's spell and as the planes climbed high into the night to light the sacrificial right I saw satan laughing with delight, the day, the music, died. He was singin...

Chorus

I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news but she just smiled and turned away, I went down to the sacred store where I'd heard the music years before but the man there said the music wouldn't play and in the streets the children screamed, the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed but not a word was spoken, the church bells all were broken and the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, they caught the last train for the coast, the day, the music, died, and they were singin...

Chorus

They were singin... Bye, bye Miss American Pie drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry an them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye singin this will be the day that I die.

Did Madonna include the Lenin-line in her version?

[LightRider]

Just keep me out of here, you say, you pompus little shit? No such luck. Now I'm going to go out of my way to be unpleasent towards you, because its what you deserve.

[Red Student]

Originally posted by LightRider
you pompus little shit?

No me good, very good.

[proletarianrevo]

An interesting interpretation of the Don Maclean-song posted by comrade Red Student, can be fund here:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html

[Volkov]

I don't like this holiday;  I see to many mindlessly patriotic people.  I don't like it when lots of reactionary people gather.  I just worked the whole day and read Hegel after I got done with work.

[turnoviseous]

Originally posted by P.O.U.M
Every 30 seconds or so there would be a bang that sounded like a rifle going off. And this went off for an hour.

I guess you havent been in Balkans on the night of a new year´s day. Its very laud, especially arround main cities´ appartment blocks. There its really scary, its not like WW II, its like a total holocaust. Its not recommended to be outside at all because people throw all kind of pyrotechnical explosives from their windows and balconies.

[Daymare17]

Originally posted by proletarianrevo
And the best hymn ever made, in contrast to the petty nationalist hymns:

http://www.plur.net/thisland.html

I never tire of Bush cartoons... :D