Skip to content

July 5th: The Regions Bank Freedom Blast

2007-07-05 · John · watch on YouTube · US politics & society · comedy performance

John satirises the Fourth of July as a pretend war: in Indiana nearly anyone can buy bombs, drunk amateurs set them off around him, and the official Indianapolis show is a bank-sponsored 'Freedom Blast' with a radio soundtrack.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; America's birthday celebrated as a pretend war; Indiana's legal fireworks and bombs; who should own explosives; fireworks now scare John

  • ★★★ John says Americans celebrate America's birthday by pretending to have a war, playing his recording from a roof deck in downtown Indianapolis. (playful) — 00:00:10 · Indianapolis
  • ★★ John says Indiana is one of the states where all fireworks are legal: not just bottle rockets, spinners and 'whippersnappers', but also 'bombs'. (playful) — 00:00:10 · Indiana
  • ★★★ John says he has always believed only a short list should own explosives: demolition workers, the Army and Wile E. Coyote; he can't imagine why anyone else needs a bomb. (playful) — 00:00:10
  • ★★ John says Indiana sells rockets and bombs to almost anyone over 18 who can convince a fireworks stand they aren't a terrorist. (playful) — 00:00:55 · Indiana
  • ★★ John admits fireworks made him feel patriotic when he was younger but now just scare him; he shows the scared posture he says he kept all evening. — 00:00:55

00:01:24 — The evening: drunk amateurs' bombs and John's anxiety; the official Regions Bank Freedom Blast with its Q95 soundtrack mashing up Neil Diamond and Martin Luther King

  • ★★ John says bombs went off all around them, set off by drunk people, and he had some anxiety. (playful) — 00:01:24
  • ★★ John explains that during Indianapolis's official display a local radio station kind of plays a soundtrack, 'like an officially sanctioned thing'; the show is the Regions Bank Freedom Blast. (hedged) — 00:01:24 · Indianapolis
  • ★ John says the person he and Sarah were with knew about the soundtrack, so they listened to it. — 00:01:53 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ John objects to the soundtrack mashing up Neil Diamond and Martin Luther King: 'You're embarrassing us!' (playful) — 00:02:21

00:03:01 — 'You're embarrassing us!'; conclusion: a pretend war sponsored by a bank, 'Welcome to America'; sign-off

  • ★★★ John sums up: they celebrated independence with a pretend war sponsored by a bank, 'Welcome to America.' (playful) — 00:03:01 · United States

Humor (significant)

  • John lists the few people who should own explosives: people in demolition, the Army… — 00:00:55 > «The Army, and of course, Wile E. Coyote.»
  • Over footage of drunk revellers setting off fireworks around the roof deck. — 00:01:24 > «Look at those guys! Those guys are demolition experts!»
  • The official fireworks soundtrack, meant to make Hank believe in America again, mashes up Neil Diamond and Martin Luther King. — 00:03:01 > «You're embarrassing us!»
  • John sums up the Fourth of July in Indianapolis. — 00:03:01 > «Last night, we celebrated our independence by having a pretend war that was sponsored by a bank. Welcome to America.»

Threads in this video

BR2_03bd5fc358