HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Actually, I’m not sure if Happy Birthday is the right thing to say – but hey, I’m guessing that’s essentially what the 4th July celebrations are all about. But don’t worry, I’m not going to now embark on a '222 45s at 222' chart for you (for a start it isn’t quite as catchy a concept).

And with the holiday falling a Friday, I hope that all of my friends from over on the other side of the Atlantic (you know who you are) will go out and over-indulge on the beer and barbecues especially as there’s plenty of time over the weekend to allow your bodies to recover. Treat 4th July 2008 the same way us Scots treat 31st December/1st January every time the calendar churns round to that date.

In other words.......drink till you fall over, tell everyone you meet (including total strangers) that you love them, eat all the wrong sorts of food, throw everything up later on (preferably all over one of your new friends) and wake-up afterwards not remembering a single thing. That way, you’re guaranteed to have a guilt-free conscience.

Oh and it’s also the rule that you have to sing along to really awful songs, word and note-prefect. Songs of such sentimental mush that they make you cringe on the other 364 days of the year.

Not that I’m including this classic in that last sentence:-

mp3 : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – Parties in the USA

And isn’t it strange to imagine that the next time the country blows out the candles on its collective birthday cake, the Commander-in-Chief could well be from a background that none of us ever imagined would happen in our lifetimes:-

mp3 : Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come

Hallelujah.

But there’s no way I can finish off a TVV posting on such a pious note – this is not the place to come for serious debate that mixes pop and politics.

So here’s the song I originally had in mind to post today:-

mp3 : Violent Femmes – American Music (live acoustic version)

Now wouldn’t that just make a much better national anthem for you all?? Just imagine your athletes swaying away on the podium at the Olympics as they collect yet another gold medal…much more entertaining than putting your hand over your heart, staring seriously into space and fighting hard to avoid the trembling lip and the tears rolling down your cheeks.

I’m away for a lie down.