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Song Parodies -> "American Pride"
Original Song Title:
"American Pie"
(MP3)Original Performer:
Don McLean
Parody Song Title:
"American Pride"
Parody Written by:
The Comedian
The Lyrics
In April, May, and July of 2004, The Concord Players performed the musical "1776", in which I played Dr. Lyman Hall, delegate from Georgia and signer of The Declaration of Independence. Our final performance of "1776" was on July 17, 2004, in The Great Hall of Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. This past Sunday, July 25, I portrayed Boston merchant and selectman John Andrews (who lived in Boston during the British occupation of 1774-1776) in The Concord Players' production of "The Concord Prologue" in Depot Square in Lexington, Massachusetts. Now that I'm back in the 21st century, I have had a chance to reflect on all of my experiences re-living America's 18th century Revolutionary history....and I was inspired to write this parody. "Fat George" was a derogatory term that American Patriots used to refer to King George before and during the American Revolution.
A long long time ago
I can still remember how "God Save The King" would give me pride
And I flew as fast as I could dash
To sail across the ocean vast
And start a
New life on the
Other side
But Britain's taxes made me shiver
With every tea-crate they'd deliver
Filled with raging ardor
We threw them in the harbor!
I felt such patriotic pride
When we Sons Of Liberty all cried,
"Dump this damn tea o-ver the side!"
"Away, old Fat George, die!"
So...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Did you fight at Bunker Hill,
And how many redcoats did you kill?
See poor Charlestown's cinders glow...
Grab your mus-ket and lock 'n load!
Send riders
Down each country road!
And boys say, "Teach me, how to lance, red-coats!"
Well I know that you're a patriot,
'Cause when, battle comes, you run to it!
You raise your flintlock high,
And you make those Regulars die!
(Oooh!)
I was a cocky teenage Minuteman
With some musket balls and powder in my pan
But I knew I'd become a man
The day
My good friend
Died
I started singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Now for ten months Boston's occupied
Our shops closed, and all our trade has died
The British brought us to our knees
When the pamphlet called "Common Sense" was seen
All its notes we followed and we gleaned
A new voice
That spoke of
Liberty
Oh, and while the King was looking down
At dis-patches from Boston town
He read how Charlestown burned
His verdict was " 'Twas earned! "
And while Lyman read a book of Burke
The Congress settled down to work
And not one patriot did shirk
The call
To fight
And die
They were singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Troopers storming on an April morning
Revere rode off yelling early warnings
The miles fly, gal-loping fast
He joined Prescott and Dawes at last
The British tried to obstruct their path
Caught Revere but, Dawes and Prescott, made a dash
Now at Lexington, death, on the Green
Then at Concord's North Bridge, blood was seen
The British turned to run
Oh, then our snipers had some fun!
All the redcoats tried to run away
The Minutemen killed lots that day
Do you recall the price they paid
Under
That April
Sky
They were singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Oh, and their ships were all in one place
A British fleet in Boston's bay
A target for George Washington
So come on, drag those cannons, to the heights!
CRACK! FLASH! Began a naval fight!
'Cause, fire's what the British understand
Oh, and as I watched from Roxbury,
My hands were raised in victory!
Each cannonball that fell,
Would break those ships to hell!
And as the flames climbed high into the night
The British fleet was burning bright
I saw Washington laugh with delight
The day
Boston's
Siege died
And he was singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
[--- slower tempo ---]
In Seventeen Seventy Six
A group of brave men, a motley mix
Debated in the heat and flies
They wrote down many sacred words
Which King George in England clearly heard
For our nation
Each one of them
Would have died
And in the streets the people cheered
The Declaration thrilled their ears
Patriotic singing
The Liberty Bell ringing
And those men in Independence Hall
Who signed their names and risked it all
They're why America stands tall
Their words
Will never
Die
So let's keep singin'...
Pride, pride, yes, American pride!
Independency's the legacy
In which we abide
So thank Sons of Liberty who'd plot while they hide
Singin' this may be the day that we die
This may be the day that we die
[--- very slow tempo ---]
Pride, pride, yes, American pride!
Independency's the legacy
In which we abide
So thank volunteers today who fight for our side
'Cause for you and me they're willing to die
I can still remember how "God Save The King" would give me pride
And I flew as fast as I could dash
To sail across the ocean vast
And start a
New life on the
Other side
But Britain's taxes made me shiver
With every tea-crate they'd deliver
Filled with raging ardor
We threw them in the harbor!
I felt such patriotic pride
When we Sons Of Liberty all cried,
"Dump this damn tea o-ver the side!"
"Away, old Fat George, die!"
So...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Did you fight at Bunker Hill,
And how many redcoats did you kill?
See poor Charlestown's cinders glow...
Grab your mus-ket and lock 'n load!
Send riders
Down each country road!
And boys say, "Teach me, how to lance, red-coats!"
Well I know that you're a patriot,
'Cause when, battle comes, you run to it!
You raise your flintlock high,
And you make those Regulars die!
(Oooh!)
I was a cocky teenage Minuteman
With some musket balls and powder in my pan
But I knew I'd become a man
The day
My good friend
Died
I started singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Now for ten months Boston's occupied
Our shops closed, and all our trade has died
The British brought us to our knees
When the pamphlet called "Common Sense" was seen
All its notes we followed and we gleaned
A new voice
That spoke of
Liberty
Oh, and while the King was looking down
At dis-patches from Boston town
He read how Charlestown burned
His verdict was " 'Twas earned! "
And while Lyman read a book of Burke
The Congress settled down to work
And not one patriot did shirk
The call
To fight
And die
They were singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Troopers storming on an April morning
Revere rode off yelling early warnings
The miles fly, gal-loping fast
He joined Prescott and Dawes at last
The British tried to obstruct their path
Caught Revere but, Dawes and Prescott, made a dash
Now at Lexington, death, on the Green
Then at Concord's North Bridge, blood was seen
The British turned to run
Oh, then our snipers had some fun!
All the redcoats tried to run away
The Minutemen killed lots that day
Do you recall the price they paid
Under
That April
Sky
They were singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
Oh, and their ships were all in one place
A British fleet in Boston's bay
A target for George Washington
So come on, drag those cannons, to the heights!
CRACK! FLASH! Began a naval fight!
'Cause, fire's what the British understand
Oh, and as I watched from Roxbury,
My hands were raised in victory!
Each cannonball that fell,
Would break those ships to hell!
And as the flames climbed high into the night
The British fleet was burning bright
I saw Washington laugh with delight
The day
Boston's
Siege died
And he was singin'...
Bye-bye, Fat Old Georgie, Good-bye!
Damn your levies, they're too heavy,
Stuff your levies and die!
And them Sons Of Li-ber-ty would meet on the sly
Singin' this'll be the day the King dies!
This'll be the day the King dies!
[--- slower tempo ---]
In Seventeen Seventy Six
A group of brave men, a motley mix
Debated in the heat and flies
They wrote down many sacred words
Which King George in England clearly heard
For our nation
Each one of them
Would have died
And in the streets the people cheered
The Declaration thrilled their ears
Patriotic singing
The Liberty Bell ringing
And those men in Independence Hall
Who signed their names and risked it all
They're why America stands tall
Their words
Will never
Die
So let's keep singin'...
Pride, pride, yes, American pride!
Independency's the legacy
In which we abide
So thank Sons of Liberty who'd plot while they hide
Singin' this may be the day that we die
This may be the day that we die
[--- very slow tempo ---]
Pride, pride, yes, American pride!
Independency's the legacy
In which we abide
So thank volunteers today who fight for our side
'Cause for you and me they're willing to die
Your Vote & Comment Counts
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Voting Results
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||
| 5 | 36 | 32 | 36 |
User Comments
Comments are subject to review, and can be removed by the administration of the site at any time and for any reason.
Almost makes me wish I was American, Johnny.....nah! Great history lesson, and finely structured parody. 555
Fantastic work, here, J D. I hope this is widely read. Not funny, certainly, but 5s across for sheer excellence, dude.
Thank you, Kristof and Rod.
This is freaking excellent. To top it all off, we kept "God Save The King", but with new lyrics, perhaps foreshadowing our national talent for parody.
A masterpiece.15 crates of tea for your party.
Thanks, Steve. Hey, that's right, "My Country 'Tis Of Thee" could be considered a parody of "God Save The King/Queen"!
Thanks for the tea, Dee!
Thanks for the tea, Dee!
This make me think you missed your calling. You should be part of the Amiright college as the history teacher. Phil could teach physics, Arwen can teach film appreciation, Tong, political science, Jeff, Phys Ed, Mari, English, me, music, etc......Claude and Ethan can be the principals. We'd have one hell of a fun school.
Excellent job! Aside from the history lesson, this really worked well with the original, I enjoyed singing along!
Let me just join the masses...5s, Johnny...great work here! =)
JD - I'm gonna have to come back to this later. Can't do a lengthy read this morning. Gotta do a few errands and I know I will be get hung up if I start going into this one and next thing I know it will the afternoon and no errands completed.
I gotta say, Johnny, that this is my all time favorite of your parodies. It's perfect.
I must have missed it before...but now I want to comment on Rick's comment...and just say that HELL YEAH, we'd have a fun school. And it would be my dream job...=)
Thanks, good people!
Rick D: Great idea...I grew up in an academic household --- my Dad's a history major, and he worked as a school principal (three different times) and an associate dean at a college. Maybe it's in my blood!
Jeff Reuben: I'm glad the pacing works, Jeff!
Arwen: We're all part of the "masses", Arwen --- and with you there, we're in good company!
Paul Robinson: No problem, Paul, come back whenever, my friend.
Ashkicksass: Wow, thanks, Ashkicksass, I'm happy to hear that!.
Arwen (again): Yeah, it would be gas, wouldn't it?
Rick D: Great idea...I grew up in an academic household --- my Dad's a history major, and he worked as a school principal (three different times) and an associate dean at a college. Maybe it's in my blood!
Jeff Reuben: I'm glad the pacing works, Jeff!
Arwen: We're all part of the "masses", Arwen --- and with you there, we're in good company!
Paul Robinson: No problem, Paul, come back whenever, my friend.
Ashkicksass: Wow, thanks, Ashkicksass, I'm happy to hear that!.
Arwen (again): Yeah, it would be gas, wouldn't it?
Kudos, JD. I'm not a big fan of Teddy Kennedy, but I listened to his speech at the convention yesterday, and part of it was about Mass as the cradle of liberty, and it was quite moving. Your parody dovetails nicely with it the day after.
Thank you, JB.
I liked it, Johnny, 5's.
Thank you, mac.
+++WHACKED by the 7-28-04 Amiright vote-bug !!!!!
+++ My Fellow Americans --- I invite you to let your votes be counted again!
+++Thank you! :-)
+++ My Fellow Americans --- I invite you to let your votes be counted again!
+++Thank you! :-)
This must be what happened to Al Gore's votes. I admire your gumption as always, Johnny, but I don't think you can single handedly fix the glitch. I invite anyone that cares to go read an old parody of someone and leave a new comment. That's something I used to do and got away from. The new votes will smooth out eventually.
Thanks, Rick. Yes, you're correct, no single person can single-handedly fix this glitch......my intent is simply to empower people to make the best of it, and to start the smoothing-out process that you describe.
Rick, your invitation to people to go read old parodies and leave new comments on them is an excellent, positive suggestion ..... I, too, used to do that, but in recent times I haven't done as much of that as I used to. Now's as good a time as any to begin again!
Rick, your invitation to people to go read old parodies and leave new comments on them is an excellent, positive suggestion ..... I, too, used to do that, but in recent times I haven't done as much of that as I used to. Now's as good a time as any to begin again!
brilliant...best one i read today
Wonderful, Johnny!!!! 5's!!!
Thank you both very much, alvin and Adagio! ;-)
Excellent work Johnny! EXCELLENT!!!! 555
Thanks, Cookie-man! ;-D
JD - This is a masterpiece. Well done. John Hancock would give this one huge fives for sure.
Thank you, Guy, very much!
As they said in the time of this parody, "Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!" And George III can read that without his spectacles and double the price on my head! (John Hancock.) Yes, we know you were a "cocky" teenage Minuteman. As bayonets go, yours was bigger than most. Of course (cheap shot at Red Sox alert, or is it a Celtics tribute?), Massachusetts men are always at their best in April. But best of all, "American Pie" does not end well, and most of its parodies on this site don't, either (though well enough to make us laugh). You made this one "some happy news."
Wow, Cap'n Pacholek, what can I say but thank you, and HUZZAH for you!
JD, an excellent read!
I get to teach Phys Ed...cool =)
Thanks Peregrin, and Jeff!
Not in SOTM this month JD, but if I were, this would be getting some points from me. Great job, one of your best in my opinion, which given the quality of your rhyme scheme and your humor in general, really is something. Good luck
Thank you, 2nz.
(SOTM) The Boston Tea-Party: Is that why Americans who donīt wanna go to war are referred to as "Left-tea:s"? ;-)
Heh heh heh, thanks, K1chyd! ;-D
(SOTM) I don't think your ego needs any more stroking, Mr. D...but I FINALLY restored my 5s on this...you know it rocks!
Thank you, Empress Arwen....... An Imperial Ego-Stroke from Your Highness is always welcome!
I won't even both explaining why I give it 5^3 JD. But you know it is. You egotistical maniac =P
(SOTM) Already voted 5's
Thanks, Ahnonamis and Adagio.
SOTM-I voted...
Thank you, BLO-TOWN.
SOTM - Masterpiece. So many lovely details, like "Independency" from '1776' (you did that so clever-LEE!). As for "bye, bye Georgie" -- well.. some things never change, do they?
Thanks, Leo Jay! ;-)
This brought a tear to my eye as it finished. What a good job! 555. It would be a great song for Republicans to use to teach American History, if not for the "fat old George" refrain. (hehe)
Thank you, Agrimorfee.
(SOTM) Heeee-yoooj! (huge). Great effort here and it even made me want to scrunch up my Aussie flag and burn it! It brought a teart to my eye, completely unrelated to the usual pepper-spraying that occurs when approaching women! Had to mark you down for humour, though. 5-4-5
Thanks, Luke!
(SOTM) Good historical parody.
Thank you, Phil.
SOTM, already voted and commented, but still a masterpiece
Thanks Dee.
SOTM -- Wow.
Thank you, Melhi. :-)
Could have sworn I commented on this one earlier, too: beautifully written, JD.
Thank you, Phil.
Quite an accomplishment, Johnny Dangle. I've been working on a "Pie" parody of my own, so I can appreciate what you've done here. It's like having to write 16 frickin' parodies for the price of one. 8 1/2 minutes of nothing but lyrics lyrics lyrics from the first second to the last. No flute intro, no guitar breaks, no drum solo, nada. But, hey, I'm preachin' to the choir. You've done an excellent job of matching your story to Don M's, while capturing the rhythm and lyrical feel of each of the verses. And it's a history lesson to boot. Sweet.
Thank you, Mighty Spaff, thank you very much indeed ... your kind words are much appreciated.
(SOTM) On behalf of Ludwig Wissinger, Johannes Eppley and Philip Krotzer, my three Rev. War ancestors, I give you a 5 for each! ;-)
Thanks, Meriadoc! Which side were they on? ;-)
Ask my DAR Chapter.... ;-)
Far out!!! You're a member of DAR, really? That means you can trace your ancestry very, very precisely to a specific individual or individuals from that era. Wow! Tell me more? ;-)
On behalf of the AmiRight University faculty, we hereby pledge our fortunes, our fives, and our sacred hon-- okay, just the fives. Very very good, Johnny.
Thanks, Claude.
Refer previous coments JD, nothing has changed, great job!
Nor has my gratitude changed, Pippin --- thank you again!
sotm--good job, see comment above!
Thanks again, Jeff.
http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3009.0;id=1428;image
I thought I had voted and commented before, but I'm glad it got into the SOTY contest, so I could re-read and re-appreciate the poetry and the power of the message. Excellent work, JD.
Thank you, JJ.
What Spaff said. Still filled with raging ardor.
Still excellently paced and powerful, Johnny. Glad I got to revisit this one.
Great job, clever, and excellent rhyming.
Thanks, Spaff, 2nz, and Dominic.
WOW! you did a gr8 job! wel done...i love the original american pie song and you hav done such a gr8 job with it ;)
Belated thanks, Loz!
Wow; really brought a tear or American pride to my eyes as I read.
Thanks, Doug.
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