THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 8, 1997 TAG: 9702070099
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: 109 lines
I BELONG to the Virginia school of light-bulb changing.
You've heard that old joke before: How many Virginians does it take to change a lightbulb?
The answer is four. One to change the bulb and three to sit around and reminisce about how great the old bulb was.
I feel ``Carry Me Back to Old Virginia'' is like the old light bulb. It seemed great in its time. I was saddened to learn of the General Assembly's apparent intention to shelve it in favor of a new state song.
I rank the old state song with ``My Old Kentucky Home'' as the two best state songs in America. When performed by a first-rate orchestra, those songs are so steeped in affection and memories they tend to bring moisture to the eyes of many, including me.
But my loyalty to ``Carry Me Back'' is limited. It is not greater than my empathy with the view many blacks hold that the song is a reminder of a South in which their ancestors were oppressed by slavery.
Granted, the lyrics have been corrected to eliminate phrases such as ``there's where I labored so long for old massa.'' But I ask myself whether, standing in a black man's shoes, I could ever hear the music or the lyrics of that song without immediately being reminded of slavery. I know I couldn't do it without grinding my teeth or biting my lip.
The fact that the song was written by a black composer wouldn't change my attitude. I'm sure I'd be offended every time I heard it.
And if there is anything in the code of gentility that so many whites associate with The Old Virginia they hold dear - as reflected in that song - surely it is a decent regard for the feelings of others.
In that context, the song is unacceptable as a musical emblem of the state, and the shelving of it seems a good thing.
In recent weeks, there have been a number of alternative songs suggested as substitutes for ``Carry Me Back.''
One, by country-crooner-turned-sausage-king Jimmy Dean and his wife, Donna, is titled ``Virginia.'' That one, originally named ``Varina'' - for Varina High School - was printed in this newspaper last Saturday.
My choice as an alternative to ``Carry Me Back'' is ``Our Commonwealth,'' a song written by Pat Curtis and Judge Thomas McNamara. Their musical tribute to Virginia was widely praised when it was performed by the Virginia Beach Chorale, under the leadership of Lou Sawyer, during a performance at the Virginia Beach Pavilion in 1991.
Not a pop song, it is more anthem than jingle, a tribute with great dignity. Sawyer says response to the song was so enthusiastic that the chorale will sing it again during this year's spring concert.
``Lyrically it covers all parts of the state beautifully,'' he said. ``And at the same time, it traces our history, all in a unified way. Yet it is simple enough so that schoolchildren can sing it.''
Here's the first verse and chorus:
Oh blessed land whose gracious hand from trials of wind and sea
Embraced the first small weary band of settlers seeking thee;
Who nourished from its infant start our nation to its might,
Who shaped its soul and filled its heart and set its course aright.
Stand tall and straight our mother state like a proud Virginia pine -
In strength and health our Commonwealth on whom God's blessings shine.
Curtis, the Virginia Beach composer, orchestra leader and pianist, said he and McNamara collaborated on the song celebrating the state after many years of working together on music and lyrics for shows to entertain members of the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association.
Curtis - who wrote the music and was orchestra conductor for the short-lived off-Broadway musical ``Jimmy and Billy'' - is the great-grandson of Richard Curtis, the only enlisted crew member aboard the Confederate ironclad Merrimac.
He received his early musical training in Hampton Roads - when he was 10 years old - by performing in local clubs while wearing lavender pants with gold stripes on them.
``I played the accordion then and tap danced at the same time, to the tune of `Way Down Upon the Swanee River,' '' he recalled, shaking his head, cackling. ``I can say with utmost modesty that I was among the first, if not the first, of the tap-dancing accordionists.
``Back in 1991, the newspaper published stories that the state song might be replaced, and I phoned Judge McNamara and suggested we write a state song ourselves,'' Curtis said.
He said McNamara replied that he liked the old state song. But shortly afterward, the two agreed to work on the project.
``McNamara's lyrics are really better than my music for it,'' Curtis said. ``I realized after reading his lyrics that the music had to be majestic, and that's what I tried to deliver. I believe the combination works.''
McNamara, who was raised in Norfolk, is a former state delegate and senator. He was a Norfolk Circuit Court judge for about 20 years and is a former chairman of the Virginia State Water Control Board. The judge now lives in Highland County, where he he still holds court.
``My view is that a song should become a state song because it is well-known and appreciated and is played so often it becomes accepted as the state song and recognized as such by the legislature,'' he said.
But, he added, if the legislature decides to select a state song, he and Curtis would like to have theirs considered. ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTOS
Composer Pat Curtis in a 1988 photo.
Judge Thomas McNamara, formerly of Norfolk, wrote the lyrics to
``Our Commonwealth.''
SONG SURVEY
Last week, The Virginian-Pilot's Infoline gave readers a chance
to hear Jimmy and Donna Dean's ``Virginia,'' which legislators have
considered as a replacement for ``Carry Me Back to Old Virginia.''
Infoline gave callers a chance to vote on whether ``Virginia''
would make a good state song. Of those who participated, 509 voted
yes and 224 voted no.