Not too long ago, Jason Davis over at Match Fit USA wrote an interesting piece about the American identity crisis in the announcers’ booth.
When it comes to the issue of identity in U.S. soccer, Davis hit the nail on the head. U.S. soccer doesn’t quite yet have a fully-formed identity, which leads us to look to outside influences a bit too often. In certain respects, this isn’t a criticism, but rather just the reality of a relatively new league and a nascent supporter culture. We are in a state of cobbling it together as we go along. But as we cobble, we have to be weary of losing ourselves and ensure that we focus on developing a means of expressing ourselves on our own terms.
I once fell in love with a characterization of African development that I heard at a G-20 press conference on the African response to the financial crisis which I’ve altered for soccer purposes: When you have second hand scarves, second hand songs, second hand announcers, and second hand stadiums, you develop a second hand mentality.
We can do better than second hand, but as most of us know, it’ll take time.
But our identity crisis goes beyond the booth. Our supporter music, which is largely a fusion of influences, has also been a work in progress. There is obviously awkwardness to spare in U.S. soccer culture. It’s the same awkwardness that arises when someone with a distinctly American accent says goodbye by saying cheers. What are we supposed to do with that awkwardness? The awkwardness comes from an attempt to recreate a culture and a lingo that isn’t ours. The scarves, fine. But when it comes to musical culture, the U.S. needs to keep an eye on creating its own style rather than usurping too much from elsewhere. It’s a slippery slope.
American music is one of our great exports. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever walked into a nightclub in a remote region of a non-English speaking country and thought, “Madonna? Seriously?” You can’t escape it. Our music is everywhere, even though I can often do without traveling halfway across the world to listen to Madonna.
As U.S. soccer fans, our mission should be to create a musical culture that is uniquely American. Keep in mind that American doesn’t necessarily mean music in the English language, or even excluding other cultural influences. Rather it means steering away from replicating what already exists elsewhere. Truth be told, we’re well on our way. For instance, the difference between D.C. United matches during MLS’ inaugural season and this season is as stark as the difference between Massachusetts Mitt Romney and today’s unrepentant Romney 2.0. D.C. United’s Barra Brava in its current form is an evolving mixture of various ethnic mixes that make up the D.C. metropolitan area. They are, in many ways, a reflection of our cosmopolitan country. Our national team music is a bit further behind, but thankfully, the organization is getting there. We’ll never be good at recreating what La 12 does for Boca Juniors at La Bombonera. And I don’t want to sound like Pompey fans, even though admittedly they sound great. I don’t want to sound like Argentine fans, nor do I want to sound like the English. But I also don’t want to be the guy chanting, “USA! USA!” It sounds corny, really corny. We have made huge strides in creating an increasingly vibrant supporter culture, especially considering the relatively non-existent fan culture in the 1990s. But our goal should be to start branch out and think through how we can make our supporter music our own. Culturally, the United States creates way too many cool things to accept a second hand culture, especially a second hand musical culture in our stadiums.
But what is American? It’s time we started to figure that one out so we can all sound a bit more authentic and less douchy when taking our show on the road. We’re a lot more creative than USA chants. Perhaps we can take some inspiration from South Africa. The South African national anthem incorporates five of South Africa’s eleven official languages – Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English. They’ve incorporated their diversity into their music. But the U.S. also has diversity that we can be proud of. That can, and should be our strength, just as it’s our strength on the field. I’m proud of a team that can field an, Onyewu, Depmsey, Torres, Donovan, Bocanegra, Altidore, Bradley, Bornstein, and Howard. All different, but all American.
Our supporter culture should reflect this rich diversity. How great would it be to confuse the hell out of rival supporters by singing songs that switch halfway through from English to Spanish? When you’re in a South African stadium, you’ll hear songs that are distinctly South African. When you’re in an Argentine stadium, you’ll hear sounds that are distinctly Argentine. Ditto for Brazil, England, and Mexico. We can do the same thing. We’ll accept your caipirinhas, fine stouts, tequila, and even watch your soccer, but in four year’s time, I will be standing with my arms crossed, not singing your songs.
With the emergence of a bevy of social media tools, organizing U.S. soccer fans is getting easier and easier. U.S. supporter groups such as the American Outlaws, Sam’s Army, and the Free Beer Movement are more accessible than ever. It’s time to take this thing to the next level. We’ve already gotten pretty good with our song and banter in a very short time, but we can do better with our supporter jukebox, America.
I long for the day that opposing fans will recognize U.S. soccer supporters by our musical style and rhythm, just as we recognize other supporters. We’re closing in on that day. Soon they’ll hear us coming around the corner before they see us and know that it would be best to hide their beer and significant others; the Yanks are coming imperial-style to impose our music on you.
I gotta agree with you about the need of our soccer culture to be distinctly American, but one of the problems I have seen with that is our own soccer culture’s lack of self-confidence, for lack of a better word. Too often, we feel that if an idea didn’t originate from another soccer culture, it’s not legitimate.
For example, a few years ago when one of the Ramones died (Joey, I think), I was at a DC United game where the supporters did a “medley” chant of Ramones songs. I loved it and I’m not even a Ramones fan. What I loved about it was its uniqueness. It was a chant/song that I thought was typically American, and fits the American soccer culture DIY ethos nicely. Unfortunately, I never heard it again, and I’m not sure why.
I think that’s the type of singing that you’re talking about. At least, I hope it is.
Ryan
Yep Ryan, that’s exactly it. I’d love to hear more stuff like that. Although the day I hear something like Miley Cyrus, I’m hanging up my pint glass.
the only thing that i would have to say is that if our soccer culture is in fact “second hand” and borrowed from other countries, that’s probably because America is the melting pot of the world. America is and has always been the country with influences from every country in the world. it would make sense that our culture for the sport played by just about every country in the world is borrowed from other countries
I think we see the problem with a lack of soccer culture in a particularly strong manner in our current WC uniform.
The jersey issue is not just about a ugly-ass uni that would have more aesthetical as its previous form, a water bottle. I can easly get riled up about the jersey and jersey aesthetics generally, but my problems with the jersey extend beyond aesthetics.
1. Through the jersey, US soccer federation encouraged American media outlets, especially ESPN, to provide canned coverage of our team’s World Cup campaign, particularly for the first game against England. So much time and effort will go into the endless Gaetjens articles that little substance may be provided by mainstream sources on the real stories concerning this team. Yes, I do not expect much of interest from non-soccer focused news and sports outlets, but we just presented these sources with an insipid pre-packed framework for World Cup coverage. Let these minuscule minds print another thousand articles about 1950! (If I believed in conspiracies, I would write about how these outlets are actually celebrating what they consider to be the golden era of US soccer—when the team was relegated, if ever mentioned, in the backpages of the sports section—with these stories.)
2. US soccer should honor its past—perhaps we have not done so to a sufficient degree. But our present deserves valuing as well. Wearing a throwback uniform is an insult to the current US men’s national team. This is a talented group of athletes; with recent club and international successes, this team deserves a uniform that will honor their efforts. Throwbacks are worn for only a limited time, because the present has far more value than as a mere platform over which the veil of history can be thrown for infatuated memorials to eras long past. A third jersey that features a style that remembers the past is far more appropriate than to drape our current US team with a uniform that disregards their continued successes to focus on the effort of a single day.