By Joe Lane
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In high school, long before I was admitted to the University of Iowa and the invention of Snapchat, I used to receive videos via text message from my brother, a UI student at the time. In addition to the Hawkeye football team entering Kinnick Stadium to AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” my most prized collection of videos from him was the gleaming brass of a band playing “On Iowa,” the “Iowa Fight Song,” and “In Heaven There is No Beer” downtown.
Last week, several articles were published describing the dissolving of one of Iowa City’s most recognizable traditions: the Beer Band. For years, a ragtag bunch of loveable musicians came together on the Pedestrian Mall and the assorted establishments of downtown. But now, the music has been silenced.
Because of the often questionable nature of the Beer Band’s lyrics, there have been complaints in the community leading to its demise. I feel, however unoriginal the thought may be, that the absence of the Beer Band has gone on long enough even though — because of the presence of the alumni band for last weekend’s Homecoming game — Iowa City hasn’t even missed a beat yet, so to speak.
According to The Daily Iowan, a former member of the Hawkeye Marching Band reported inappropriate lyrics involving gang rape and oral sex. Moreover, the Beer Band has removed its Facebook page and website, which contained the lyrics to which the former member most likely refers.
Make no mistake, if it is in fact true that the Beer Band’s lyrics involved gang rape or oral sex, punishment was inevitable and appropriate. However, this is not the Beer Band students flock to downtown to see. To me, though I cannot speak for all who have enjoyed the Beer Band’s presence over the years, the songs with explicit lyrics do little for me.
When I go downtown on a Friday night and begin to hear the rumblings of the Beer Band around the corner, deep on the Ped Mall, I’m thinking about the songs I was taught on the field at Kinnick Stadium during my first week on campus. I’m thinking about how much pride I, and the rest of the Hawkeye State, have for our school. I’m thinking about how other schools don’t have what we have. I’m not thinking about the band’s sampling of inappropriate lyrics.
The Beer Band’s presence reminds me of the Saturday mornings I woke up to several notifications on my phone from my ecstatic brother. It reminds me of why I’m proud to be a Hawkeye.
No, the lyrics that have alienated members of the community do not make me proud to be a Hawkeye. And, no, I don’t want those lyrics to represent the UI. But I don’t feel the disbanding — temporary or permanent — of the Beer Band is the solution. The individuals responsible are not being given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. And of course, if the Beer Band does come back, it should come back without the terrible lyrics heard by some in its repertoire.
Bring back the Beer Band. Do not bring back the Beer Band so the drunken masses can sing along to inappropriate lyrics. Bring back the Beer Band because, in the performance of the songs Hawkeyes learned early in their fandom, it represents why I wake up every day proud to be a Hawkeye.