Somewhere in the Commanders rebrand manual it instructs the user to retrofit the new square pegs with all of the round holes of Redskins history.
That's about the only reasonable explanation for whatever it is this is:
Yes, nobody asked for the fight song to be replaced. They certainly could have allowed fans to sing — or at worst, mouth — the old words at games if they so chose (not that anyone's going to games anymore, anyhow). But the instruction manual says it must be replaced, so it must be so.
The Commanders are offering on their website for fans to vote on new lyrics to the revered "Hail to the Redskins" fight song. Along with changing the beats that have become muscle memory to longtime fans, the two options also present a few notable lyrical changes.
All sung by a disembodied barbershop quartet that may or may not have recorded their new renditions on an iPhone.
Option one replaces "Braves on the Warpath!" with "Fight for our Commanders!"
Option two replaces "Braves on the Warpath!" with "Leaders on a Mission!"
Both versions notably replace "Sons of Washington" with "All of Washington."
The 'Leaders on a Mission!' refrain feels so blatantly off-putting that it makes this entire exercise feel like an experiment in new torture tactics.
In case you're unfamiliar, these are the old fight song lyrics:
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
Run or pass and score! We want a lot more!
Beat 'em, Swamp 'em,
Touchdown! Let the points soar!
Fight on, fight on, 'Til you have won
Sons of Wash-ing-ton. Rah! Rah! Rah!
Hail to the Redskins!
Hail Victory!
Braves on the Warpath!
Fight for old D.C.!
At least they've demonstrated a measure of care and precision when honoring the team's rich history to this point...
We're clearly beyond the 'is nothing sacred anymore?' stage of the Commanders rebrand and have moved swiftly into 'anything left here has to be burned.'
The more forceful rebranding that occurs, the more I'm reminded of these coarse words from Virginia state senator Chap Petersen: "The problem is the team has no brand."
Maybe I'm just an old man shaking my fist at a cloud, but this feels like it has Streisand effect written all over it.
