Many of us watched School House Rock as we were growing up. The videos and songs taught us science, history, parts of grammar and how to multiply. Two School House Rock songs (No More Kings and The Shot Heard 'Round The World) are about the American Revolution, but they are actually pieces of propaganda.
Let's starts of with the 13th most favorite School House Rock song voted on during an online poll. The song is called "No More Kings." In the song, the pilgrims sails across the Atlantic Ocean to America, where they form the 13 colonies. They say will remain loyal to the King. They thought they would run their own land, but George III "still vowed he'd rule them till the end."
The lyrics of the song state that George III said, "Anything I say do it my way. Don't you get to feeling independent, Cause I'm gonna force you to obey." He taxed their property without giving them any choice and in England he didn't give them any voice. The video makes it out like the King was taxing them just to get money for himself, as he sits on his throne and counts all his bags of money in a pile behind him. The real reason the King was taxing the colonies was because the French and Indian War. With every war comes the need for money, and England was in debt after the war so George III began to tax property to pay off the debt.
King George's appearance in the children's video is strange anyways. It looks like he is wearing so much make-up that he looks like a clown. In one part he actually laughs like a clown when they say that what he was doing to the colonials was taxation without representation. When they got mad, he said, "I don't care."
George is wearing different suits throughout the video. He wears a blue suit, a pink suit, a red suit and a brown suit. It makes it look like he was spending all the colonial's taxes paid to him on new outfits for himself, when he was actually trying to save his country. George was using the tax money to pay England's debt from the French and Indian War.
In the video, the King sends the Red Coats to America to fight the colonials after he said he would "rule them to the end." He shakes his fist at them when a colonial sticks his tongue out at him. The Red Coats are red up and down. The color red is often associated with violence. When they go to fight the colonials, the Red Coats are smiling.
The colonials always chase the Red Coats away from America in this video. As tthey are being chased, the Red Coats have a look of fright on their faces and their hands are in the air. They are made out to look really nice and proper, but the people chasing them (the militia) are people of low-status with pitchforks. This makes the English look weak and like cowards.
Throughout the video, King George is sitting on his throne. He does different things on his throne throughout the video, such as crossing his legs, eat and throwing his garbage behind him, reading the newspaper and counting the bags of money piled behind him. I could see something written on the back of his chair, and when it zoomed in on the chair I paused it. On the back of the chair it says, "DI ELLE ET MON DROIT." This is French and means, "Said she and my right." I took this as saying whatever she (England and the King) said was the colonials rights.
The 10th most favorite School House Rock song is called "The Shot Heard 'Round the World." It starts off with Paul Revere standing on a horse yelling through a blow horn that the English are coming. We've talked about Paul Revere's "Midnight Ride" and how he was actually caught during it by the English. I am pretty sure he didn't stand on his horse and yell through a blow horn, either.
One thing that confused me about this video was the lyrics. They say that the shot heard 'round the world was the start of the Revolution. The shot heard 'round the world has been called the start of the Revolution when someone's gun went off. We don't know whether it was one of the English or one of the colonials. The School House Rock lyrics say at Lexington, the English shot first and it was the shot heard 'round the world.
The Red Coats in this video are just like the ones in "No More Kings." At Bunker Hill, they are smiling becaus ethey want to kill. The Red Coats jump in the air at Old North Bridge and run away from the Colonials. There's a part of the video where there's one of those toy blimps that you punch and its dressed as a Colonial. The Red Coat goes up to it and pushes it, and it punches him and knocks him out, once again making the English look weak.
One part in the song said that Colonel Prescott told his men to "hold you fire till you see the whites of their eyes." This was actually good advice and we've talked about it in class. As you can see, these two School House Rock songs are just pieces of hidden propaganda. It seems to me that at an early age they were trying to make us believe that we Americans are better than the cowardly English.
Over the horizon, what could it be?
The pilgrims sailed the sea to find
A place to call their own.
In their ship Mayflower they hoped
To find a better home.
They finally knocked on Plymouth Rock
And someone said, "We're there,
It may not look like home,
But at this point I don't care."
Oh they were missing Mother England
Oh they were missing Mother England
They swore their loyalty until the very end. "Anything you say king, it's OK king,
You know it's kind of scary on your own.
Gonna build a new land the way we planned
Could you help us run it till it's grown?"
They planted corn you know,
They planted corn you know,
they built their houses one by one.
And bit by bit they worked
until the colonies were done.
They looked around, yeah, up and down,
and someone said, "Hurray!"
If the king could only see us now,
he would be proud of us today.
They knew that now they'd run
their own land,
But George III still vowed
he'd rule them till the end. "Anything I say, do it my way now,
Anything I say do it my way.
Don't you get to feeling independent,
Cause I'm gonna force you to obey.
He taxed their property,
He taxed their property,
he didn't give them any choice.
And back in England, he didn't give them any voice.
That's called taxation without representation, and it's not fair.
But when the colonies complained, the king said, "I don't care."
He even has the nerve to tax our cup of tea
He even has the nerve to tax our cup of tea
To put it kindly king, we really don't agree
We're gonna show you how we feel, we're gonna dump this tea
And turn this harbor into the biggest cup of tea in history.
They wanted no more Mother England,
They wanted no more Mother England,
They knew the time had come for them to take command.
"It's very clear you're being unfair, king, no matter what you say we won't obey.
Gonna hold a revolution now, king, and we're gonna run it all our way."
With no more kings
With no more kings
We're gonna elect a president
No more kings
He's gonna do what the people want
No more kings
We're gonna run things our way
No more kings
No one's gonna tell us what to do
No more kings
Rockin' and a-rollin', splishin' and a-splashin'
Rockin' and a-rollin', splishin' and a-splashin'
over the horizon what could it be?
Looks like it's going to be a free country.
Set the nation on its ear
And the shot at Lexington
Heard round the world.
When the British fired in the early dawn,
The War of Independence had begun.
The die was cast, the rebel flag unfurled.
And on to Concord marched the foe,
And on to Concord marched the foe,
To seize the arsenal there you know,
Waking folks, searching all around
Till our militia stopped them in their tracks,
At the Old North Bridge we turned them back,
And chased those Redcoats back to Boston town.
And the shot heard round the world
And the shot heard round the world
Was the start of the revolution.
The minutemen were ready, on the move.
Take your powder, take your gun Report to General Washington,
Hurry men, there's not an hour to lose.
Now at famous Bunker Hill, even though we lost it was quite a thrill.
Now at famous Bunker Hill, even though we lost it was quite a thrill.
The rebel Colonel Prescott proved he was wise.
Outnumbered and low on ammunition, as the British stormed his position,
he said, "Hold your fire till you see the whites of their eyes."
Though the next few years were rough,
Though the next few years were rough,
General Washington's men proved they were tough.
Those hungry, ragged boys would not be beat.
One night they crossed the Delaware, surprised the Hessians in their lair,
and at Valley Forge they just bundled up their feet.
Now the shot heard round the world was the start of the revolution.
Now the shot heard round the world was the start of the revolution.
The minutemen were ready, on the move.
Take your blanket, take your son Report to General Washington.
We've got our rights and now it's time to prove.
Well, they showed such determination
Well, they showed such determination
That they won the admiration
Of countries cross the sea like France and Spain.
Who loaned the colonies ships and guns
And put the British on the run
And the Continental Army on its feet again.
And though we lost some battles too,
And though we lost some battles too,
the Americans swore they'd see it through
Their raiding parties snuck up, hit and run
At Yorktown the British could not retreat
Bottled up by Washington and the French Fleet,
Cornwallis surrendered and finally we had won.
From the shot heard round the world, to the end of the revolution,
The continental rabble took the day.
And the father of our country beat the British there at Yorktown,
and brought freedom to you and me
and the U.S.A.
God bless America!
Let freedom ring!
Lyrics Found At:
The Funny Pages
Last modified: Sun Jan 21 13:37:42 1996
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