Ay-yi-yi-yi,
In China they never serve Chili.
So here comes another verse
Much worse than the other verse,
So waltz me around again, Willie!
These nonsensical lyrics to “Cielito Lindo” came to mind when I read that Rep. Carl Gatto had opposed adoption of Carol Beery Davis’s second verse of “Alaska’s Flag”. As dear as Davis was, and as fine as much of her literary work was, this second verse was not one of her best efforts. Still, as a tribute to her, I arranged the song as a duet and sang the first public performance of the second verse with Fran Ulmer.
With one verse only, “Alaska’s Flag” became the official Territorial song in 1955. I first sang it the next year and have sung the hymn many times since. I say “hymn”, for its final line, “the simple flag of a last frontier”, is hymnlike. Furthermore, the tune is derived from the Protestant hymn “Sweet Hour of Prayer”.
During World War II, I was told that American Soldiers in the Pacific Theater asked unrecognized voices in the jungle to identify themselves by singing the second verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” If the unidentified man did so, he was shot, for no American knew more than the first verse. Similarly, I’m sure that few people ever would learn a second verse of “Alaska’s Flag”. The one verse inspires patriotism in us Alaskans and offends no one.
Therefore, let’s leave it alone!
John d’Armand
Auke Bay
Comments (5)
Add commentonce again
An old [filtered word] from a bygone era where there were anti-Native signs all over drags us back to another century.
Agreed...
Some things should not be touched. They are history from a past era we should respect. We don't have to agree with things that took place, but they are our roots.
Agree with dArmand
first, no offence to Carol Beery Davis, but the second verse is not great, not even remotely good. Second, she just gifted it 5 years later, so someone thinks it should be adopted? what if I gift a third verse next week? What if next month someone writes a drum beat to go with it? Honestly.
History is history. The song should remain as it is.
Leave the Sate Song alone
Why not add the verse? Why only celebrate the theft of Alaska minerals, resources and lands from the Indigenous? The trouble with the descendants of the European illegal immigrants, is they want to rewrite history. They want to gloss over the fact their ancestors invaded our lands and stole the natural resources and lands, as they do to third world countries now, and get the terrorist attacks in response to their policies of colonialism?
What was the root cause of the murder of 3,000 Americans on 9/11? What made the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian al-Qaeda terrrorists want to kill themselves in order to kill as many Americans as possible? As a further question... Why did America invade Afghanistan and Iraq, instead of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, since that is where the terrorists originated from?
The trouble with the descendants of the illegal European immigrants, is they got theirs, so they want to prevent the immigrants of color from getting their fair share of stolen resources and lands.
Add the second verse, rub it in the face of the descendants of the illegal European immigrants who stole the Indigenous resources and lands while enslaving them and committing genocide against them.
Wow, with those racist
Wow, with those racist attitudes (and yes, it can work both ways), curt and clam, I pray for our country.