Wisconsin Marching Band Tune Sparks Rose-Bowl Debate

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNWWG_YzF_I&w=600]

High schoolers “sticking it” to the government at the Rose Bowl? It’s unlikely.

The Pulaski High School Red Raider Marching Band of Pulaski, Wisc. was commended by the Daily Kos for playing a pro-union song during the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. The liberal blog claimed the band was “gettin’ down” to “Union Maid” by Woody Guthrie as a jab to Governor Scott Walker’s policies. The song has lyrics like: “I’m sticking to the Union until the day I die.”

But Pulaski Superintendent Dr. Mel Lightner claims there was no hidden agenda. According to an interview with conservative watchdog Media Trackers, Lightner said the band was playing a crowd-pleaser they refer to as “Red Wing Polka,” not “Union Maid.”

“This is simply hilarious,” Lightner said. “They [the Daily Kos] are just trying to spin it their way.” Lightner added that Pulaski’s band director Tom Bush chose “Red Wing Polka” because it was his grandmother’s favorite.

Governor Walker had previously made national news for fighting against teachers’ unions, so the Guthrie tune would have been appropriate. The Daily Kos updated their original blog post with the clarification, noting the song has several different origins and sets of lyrics. “However you want to interpret the selections, there’s no denying that the Pulaski Red Raiders Marching Band did a fantastic job in the parade, and represented Wisconsin well,” the post reads. NewsFeed certainly agrees.

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