Hail to the Chief
Posted at 4:50 AM on January 20, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(25 Comments)
Imagine for a moment that you're the new President of the United States and you can no longer enter a room simply. In addition to all the people hanging around, you're preceded by drums and brass.
Bum bah dah dum dah dah DUMMMMMM!
Bum bah dah dum dah dah DUMMMMMM!
And that's just the lead in. Presidents and royalty have to have entrance music, which means, in the case of presidents, there's a good chance they will become deeply weary of "Hail to the Chief" by the end of four or eight years.
If you have the great misfortune to be a professional wrestler or a major league relief pitcher you also have an entrance music burden to bear, but at least you get to choose.
Relief pitcher Mitch Williams took "Wild Thing" from the movie "Major League".
Wrestler Gorgeous George used "Pomp and Circumstance", borrowed from your high school graduation.
No piece of music can stand up to this test - to remain fresh even if you have to hear it every time you enter a room full of people. Or can it?
Nominations?
Comments (25)
Hard question....I think musicals provide entrance music, though maybe not enduring. I'm thinking of the Wedding March from "The Sound of Music" or the one that begins with "The minute you walked in the room." My favorite is the one one from "Carousel," about walking through the storm. Good thing we don't need a score to live our lives and now can rely on RH for interlude music.
Good Morning Heartlanders!
While that's a tall order for any song, I would enjoy hearing something fun with a catchy beat that makes anyone happy just to hear it when I enter a room.
Something Zydeco-type music or by Beau Solei ... it may not be stately or dignified, but it would make a great entrance. Think of it -- everywhere I go would turn into a party and everyone would be happy to see me. Think you could play something like that this morning so I can see what it feels like, Dale?
Your friend, Joanne J
I think there would have to be a list of music that would be rotated. One that I would like, although I don't think it would be considered, is The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan.
Gipsy King's, My Way, would withstand many plays. What better song to signify Barack's brilliant campaign?
Morning Heartlanders. I'm with Joe... I think we should have a list. Just watched "The Queen" last night on television and was thinking how stifling all the protocal is. So a long list, lots of variety, with at least one Klezmer (sp?) song. (And Happy Anniversary Barb!)
The New Primitives version of Come Together. I can't help smiling, and occasionally dancing whenever I hear that song. Perhaps then, everyone would start dancing when I entered the room. That would be much better than having everyone standing there staring at me.
Our cell phones already allow us to do this for people we know by designating specific ringtones when they call. Would they mind the tune we've chosen for them? Theoretically they won't actually hear what we've chosen for them as they wouldn't be close by when they call. And our mutual friends would never tell, right?
Dale;
Thank you for the songs you played for Barb & I this morning. What a great way to start a great day!
At 26 years old, you can well imagine that our boys were raised on The Morning Show. Their tastes in music and appreciation for variety is, in part, due to the time they spent listing to you in the mornings. You and "Jim Ed" have been a constant in our lives for many years - and for this, we thank you.
Kind Regards,
Burt Fisher
It strikes me that with this election's generational shift, a lot of presidential stuffiness is being deep-sixed, and maybe we don't need such a self-important majestic piece of music. I still have the "We are One" concert banging around in my head, and suggest Garth Brooks did a really fine job Sunday. He breathed lots of fresh life into American Pie, and if that was the president's entrance music, when we got tired of it, we're no more tired of it than we were before Sunday. Of course the president's a busy man, and that's a long song. ;-)
Dale:
Thanks for Michael Dusais(?) and a great way to "slink" into a room with Purpose and determine the Funk-tionality of any decision. What fun -- I loved it! Do you think I could get away with wearing sequins, feather boas and a tiara? Every girls dream ...
Most people would agree that the entrance music for me, as both a warning and a statement, would be a song sung by both Elton John and Tina Turner - "The B is Back". No, it would not be an insult. I am proud of the title (we actually have a group of us women at work that pride ourselves on the title). We are not women to trifle with, and everyone knows it. We are proud, wonderful, powerful women, and we think the title is apt!
Second choice would be the wonderful David Bowie/Queen song "Under Pressure". Would be most apt in such a high profile, high pressure, high stakes job like President, and works well for us poor little peons on the other end of the food chain!
I'm all for revolving theme music - depending upon the circumstances, the President's mood. New Cabinet Post - Secretary of Themes?
Yes, Joanne, I think the sequins and feather boas would be required for both you and your Secret Service detail. Imgaine them speaking into the microphones hidden in their fluffy accessories!
Hi Dale and Listeners/Bloggers,
One idea for entrance music is Aaron Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
Also, the Parkway Theater on 48th & Chicago in south Mpls. is showing the televised feed of the inauguration on their movie screen—free, and all are invited.
going back to my rock'n'roll roots, i immediately thought of the opening bass line of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water---gets me every time into a kind of funky, confident mood----that would work for me, to get me ready to strut in as the president :-)
i wonder if there's a more syncopated version of Hail to the Chief that would be possible....stick with tradition but update it?
fun to think about--
Sue, your suggestion of Fanfare for a Common Man is a great one. I never tire of hearing it myself, so maybe it would stand the test of time. Dale, do you have a version of it to play this morning?
Dale, your concern for getting sick of HttC is shared by a number of screenwriters as evidenced by the citations in wikipedia of lyrical renditions included in presidential movies.
Thanks for RH.
I feel that I should speak up for the poor musicians who have to *play* the designated entrance song over and over and over...I am the daughter of a church musician, and there were pieces of my music my mother thought at one time were lovely - until she had to play them one too many times for this or that wedding. A few were still on her "please don't include this one" list when I got married (she had retired by then). So even though it's gotta get dull listening to "Hail to the Chief" when you enter the room - think of the poor saps on trumpet and trombone...they have to play it for every entrance, plus practice time in between.
Ditto for Sue & Grant's suggestion about Copeland -- a fitting "new classical" piece for our incoming "new classic" President! Another possible idea might be "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" from Annie (it was good enough for Franklin Roosevelt!) -- at least for this FIRST term... Then maybe for the 2nd term, we should commission something new and uplifting -- tradition is nice, but it might just be time to "tweak" tradition and start with a fresh one.
Happy Inauguration day!
Did anyone else hear the several second "hitch" when Dale handed it over to Jasper this morning? Hard to believe after Dale said all those nice things about Jasper. Maybe if we got Jasper a theme song he would stop being so cranky.
we would need something like "Anthem for the common computer"
I nominate "This Land is Your Land", the Woody Guthrie response to "God Bless America." I think it captures the change in temperament in the US right now. It feels like we are moving to a spirit of acceptance and inclusion rather than the recent feeling of "Us vs. Them."
We should be sure to include the lyrics from the last two verses that have been left out of pop culture's common rendition of the song:
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Thanks for noting the "hitch" Dan.
Jasper was a bit slow on the uptake this morning.
I suspect he was paying attention to live inaugural coverage, just like everyone else.
Too bad he has to work today!
Dale,
Please don't hold back...Follow the President's lead and play,"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."
Thanks,
Beth-Ann
OK, speaking of songs played over and over, is it just my imagination, or are we hearing "I've Been Everywhere"--Johnny Cash--several times a week?
Is it the new theme of RH and I just missed the announcement?
Wasn't the poem by Liz Alexander entitled Praise Song for a New Day and didn't you play a song by that title by the Roches this AM? I'm looking at the playlist because this was a go to work early day for me. This is way cool. Please play it again soon because I missed it.
Thanks,
Holly
You ask for suggestions ... I have none. But things you are doing right.
- I enjoy hearing the weather ... maybe the remote online listeners don't, but I do.
- I enjoy hearing the music requests. I especially like it when they leave the window open for you to choose something.
- I'd REALLY enjoy a guest appearance or taped appearance of one of your characters with Tom Keith. BTW: How is Jim Ed doing? I think of him all the time and how much I miss him! I am thankful to still have you Dale and this show! Any plans for a State Fair appearance by either of you or is that too far off?
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