(New Poll) The Washington Commanders Brand 2.0: Beer Drinkers and Hail Raisers

[AngryChuckT]

I was watching this original haka dance on YouTube and it made me think about us.



I'm not saying we should copy that, but I think it would be really cool if the fans in the stadium adopted something new to reflect our older traditions and our new military warrior theme. We could do burgundy and gold face paint and some sort of Native American war dance or other thing that was uniquely ours.

If you look at some of the college teams they have similar unique traditions such as VT's Enter the Sandman. Imagine the entire new stadium rocking to a completely new tradition and theme like that!



I'm sick and tired of hearing the Crazy Train intro and we need something new that everybody, or most people, can relate to. We need better music in the stands. Is a great opportunity to define our future identity as a team

I don't think it should be based around a Commander's theme I think it should be based around a Warrior theme to tie both our Legacy heritage as well as our current quasi military theme

Just thinking out loud here, we need a new identity in my opinion.

To be honest with you? I'm tired of the HTTR song as well. It is spent and played, from another era. Bash me if you feel the need to

I am ok with looking toward building new traditions especially as we get back to winning. The Fight Song regardless of form/lyrics needs to stay, though. Taking that it is a bridge too far for me.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Just for the record: These were not the original lyrics, and I dont think they were ever officially changed to that.

It is true the lyrics have evolved though. The story about the evolution from “DC” to “Dixie” back to “DC” may be muddled, but for sure these lines were changed:

“Scalp 'em, swamp 'em -- We will take 'em big score
Read 'em, weep 'em, touchdown - we want heap more”

So I don’t mind changing the lyrics some if it lets us keep the oldest fight song in pro football, but the current version needs improvement. For example, the “fight for our Commanders” line is just bad. The “bravely march forward” option would have been significantly better, if for no other reason than it would sound okay when half the fans are still singing the original “Braves on the Warpath.” I also don’t understand why we changed “sons of Washington” to “all of Washington.”

Another thing is they altered the tune slightly—and for the worse. Here are the two versions for reference:

 

[Spearfeather]

1 a aw3sa!!!

The story about the evolution from “DC” to “Dixie” back to “DC” may be muddled, but for sure these lines were changed:

“Scalp 'em, swamp 'em -- We will take 'em big score
Read 'em, weep 'em, touchdown - we want heap more”

Yes, those lines were changed, but I was just saying, the " Fight for Ol' Dixie " was not the original lyric.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Yes, that's exactly what I said. Let's unretire all numbers, while we're at! 🙄 Nice completely irrelevant straw man.

And it's Hail to the Commanders, not Redskins.

To be clear, you said:

“Dan Snyder owned the Redskins for 2.5 times longer than Gibbs Super Bowl Era. Feel how you want, but he destroyed that name too.”

I replied that our history did not begin with Gibbs and end with Snyder.

But I don’t mean to misrepresent your position. What have I misunderstood? Is our old brand dead or not? Should we keep our history or move on?

Maybe you think we just change our name and keep the rest of our history, but then why mention this in the context of retiring the fight song we’ve been singing since the 1930s? Maybe you think we keep the players and records but erase everything else related to the old brand? In that case I vehemently disagree. We’re one of the oldest most storied franchises in pro football, and seeing that legacy erased is tragic.

 

[Spearfeather]

To be clear, you said: ...

Now you're talking to DieselPwr, right Faithful ?

 

[grhqofb5]

It is true the lyrics have evolved though. The story about the evolution from “DC” to “Dixie” back to “DC” may be muddled, but for sure these lines were changed:

“Scalp 'em, swamp 'em -- We will take 'em big score
Read 'em, weep 'em, touchdown - we want heap more”

So I don’t mind changing the lyrics some if it lets us keep the oldest fight song in pro football, but the current version needs improvement. For example, the “fight for our Commanders” line is just bad. The “bravely march forward” option would have been significantly better, if for no other reason than it would sound okay when half the fans are still singing the original “Braves on the Warpath.” I also don’t understand why we changed “sons of Washington” to “all of Washington.”

Another thing is they altered the tune slightly—and for the worse. Here are the two versions for reference:

Good lord, is that what they’re playing now at the stadium after every touchdown? I have a record from 1976 that my dad gave me with the “fight for old DC” lyrics that i play for my kids during games. That new version is wretched…

 

[grhqofb5]

1 a aw3sa!!!


Yes, those lines were changed, but I was just saying, the " Fight for Ol' Dixie " was not the original lyric.

That’s interesting. I had read in multiple sources that the “fight for old Dixie” line was in there because the Redskins were the furthest southern team until the Falcons came in back in the 60s. Then it was changed at some point. I also read about the other changes that were made that were referenced.

 

[Spearfeather]

That’s interesting. I had read in multiple sources that the “fight for old Dixie” line was in there because the Redskins were the furthest southern team until the Falcons came in back in the 60s. Then it was changed at some point. I also wrote about the other changes that were made that were referenced.

Original sheet music:

 

[Riggo44]

Maybe you think we just change our name and keep the rest of our history, but then why mention this in the context of retiring the fight song we’ve been singing since the 1930s?

I think I was pretty clear--I think it is a poor bastardization of our once great fight song.

 

[Faithful Fan]

I think I was pretty clear--I think it is a poor bastardization of our once great fight song.

Well I agree with that, but I would rather fix the song than lose it.

 

[Burgundy Sweatshirt]

Good lord, is that what they’re playing now at the stadium after every touchdown? I have a record from 1976 that my dad gave me with the “fight for old DC” lyrics that i play for my kids during games. That new version is wretched…

Most fans, me included, sing the old lyrics, including the Redskins part.

 

[Faithful Fan]

Now you're talking to DieselPwr, right Faithful ?

???

My replies made me think I made some kind of mistake, but I went back and looked. Riggo44 said “Dan Snyder owned the Redskins for 2.5 times longer than Gibbs Super Bowl Era. Feel how you want, but he destroyed that name too.” And I replied, “Our history did not begin with Gibbs and end with Snyder.” I’m not trying to cause trouble, I really don’t understand what I’m missing. Maybe the idea is that we should blame Snyder for losing the Redskins brand?

It is somewhat ironic that DieselPwr44 and Riggo44 are debating this, considering what John Riggins has said about it:

“I feel completely disenfranchised,” said Riggins. "I can't understand how anyone who once played under the old franchise name could possibly want to be a part of anything to do with the Washington Commanders."

He acknowledged that for his old teammates and others who played for the Redskins, he understands every one of them has to make their own decisions and are free to handle this how they choose to. But he also added, “For the guys who showed up last week I look at them and say, ‘What's wrong with you? Don't you get it? You were invited to your own funeral.’”

John Riggins does not like 'Commanders' nickname

Washington's all-time leading rusher, John Riggins, does not like the team's new name. On his podcast, "The John Riggins Show" with co-host Tod Castleberry, Riggins said that in 2000 -- the year after Snyder bought the team from Jack Kent Cooke -- he suggested to…

commanderswire.usatoday.com

I get how he feels.

 

[Spearfeather]

My replies made me think I made some kind of mistake, but I went back and looked. @Riggo44 said

You followed up my post by saying " To be clear you said, ...
And I never said any of those things.
So, I didnt know exactly who you were responding to. I just knew it couldnt have been me.

So, let me ask again, when you said " You clearly said .. "
Who were you talking to ?

 

[Faithful Fan]

You followed up my post by saying " To be clear you said, ...
And I never said any of those things.
So, I didnt know exactly who you were responding to. I just knew it couldnt have been me.

So, let me ask again, when you said " You clearly said .. "
Who were you talking to ?

Oh I see. I was having two conversations at once, and I was replying to the post I quoted not yours.

 

[grhqofb5]

That’s interesting. I had read in multiple sources that the “fight for old Dixie” line was in there because the Redskins were the furthest southern team until the Falcons came in back in the 60s. Then it was changed at some point. I also wrote about the other changes that were made that were referenced.

Original sheet music:

View attachment 13595

That’s great thanks for posting

Here a photo of the 50 year old record my dad played for me, which I now play for my kids.

 

[grhqofb5]

Original sheet music:

View attachment 13595

 

[RedWolf]

Everybody focused on the HTTR part of my post and not the rest

I was watching this original haka dance on YouTube and it made me think about us.



I'm not saying we should copy that, but I think it would be really cool if the fans in the stadium adopted something new to reflect our older traditions and our new military warrior theme. We could do burgundy and gold face paint and some sort of Native American war dance or other thing that was uniquely ours.

If you look at some of the college teams they have similar unique traditions such as VT's Enter the Sandman. Imagine the entire new stadium rocking to a completely new tradition and theme like that!



I'm sick and tired of hearing the Crazy Train intro and we need something new that everybody, or most people, can relate to. We need better music in the stands. Is a great opportunity to define our future identity as a team

I don't think it should be based around a Commander's theme I think it should be based around a Warrior theme to tie both our Legacy heritage as well as our current quasi military theme

Just thinking out loud here, we need a new identity in my opinion.

To be honest with you? I'm tired of the HTTR song as well. It is spent and played, from another era. Bash me if you feel the need to

 

[Faithful Fan]

Everybody focused on the HTTR part of my post and not the rest

I no longer live in the area and haven’t been to a game in a dozen years, so you would know better than me, but judging by what I see on TV, I imagine the game day experience needs improvement. Of course the easiest way to do that is to win, but good music would help. I can’t see myself doing a haka dance though. I can understand wanting to have something cool like a pirate ship that fires cannons or a tomahawk chop.

Really though, to me, our thing should be tradition. This franchise is going on 100 years old. Lots of history. Our brand is closer to the Packers than it is to the Buccaneers. Imagine a Norte Dame game without this historic piece:

Notre Dame Victory March

fightingirish.com

It just wouldn’t be right. That’s how cutting Hail to the Commanders feels to me and others, hence the pushback. Though I agree they messed up the song, they need to rework it to be closer to the song we all grew up singing.

But like I said, if it were up to me, tradition would be the brand. Established 1932. Burgundy and gold. The oldest fight song in the NFL. #33, #49, #9, #28, #21, #81. Throwback jerseys and helmets from all the different eras of pro football. Maybe give the new stadium a neoclassical theme to match the city’s monuments. Historic, iconic, legendary. That’s the vibe.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have rocking music, fireworks, and lights at the stadium though.

 

[Riggo44]

I imagine the game day experience needs improvement.

It's actually really fun now. Harris and co. have done a tremendous job with it.

 

[HTTR]

Third year season ticket holder now here. I’ve been to every game this year. I think they are doing a pretty good job with the music and entertainment. There’s no particular song or brand of music that everybody likes that’s going to get everyone fired up, but they do what they can. It’s a very simple formula… When they’re winning the experience is great, when they are losing, it sucks. No amount of bells and whistles is going to change that.

As for the new Fight Song. It is cringe as can be. A real kick in the teeth that ruins the moment for me after each score. Sometimes I will defiantly scream out the old lyrics, but otherwise, I tune it out. If we’re going to be stuck with this crappy name and brand forever, might as well just drop it and come up with something new. If they really expect us to move on and get over the loss of our identity, just stop with the painful reminders and cheap attempts at appeasement because it’s only making it worse. Just my opinion.