Chapter IX – Spanish Nightmare
Disclaimer: This chapter contains references to the 1980's movie "Leader of the Band"
Charlie Brown soon got over the embarrassment of landing himself in the emergency room during band camp. That was a typical thing to have happen to him, he thought. The weeks of summer were soon over and everyone was soon back in school. With the coming of the autumn also came the football season. This also meant that it would soon be time for the band to start going to competitions.
On the first Friday of the school year, all of the band students were excited. That night would be their very first football game of the season. During lunch, all of the kids were in little groups talking with anticipation of the evening's football game. Charlie Brown was excited too, but he was also a little anxious.
"What's for lunch today, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked as he sat down next to Charlie Brown.
"The same as usual. Peanut butter," Charlie Brown said with a sigh.
"Let's see," Linus said as he looked though his lunch bag. "Carrot sticks, chocolate covered raisins, and an egg salad sandwich. Oh, wait! Here's another note from my mother," Linus said as he took a little piece of paper from the bag. His mother always put a little note in his lunch. "Good luck tonight, make us proud! I can't wait to hear our Little Glenn Miller play with his band tonight. Love, Mom." Linus read aloud.
"Little Glenn Miller?" inquired Charlie Brown.
"Yeah. That's what my family calls me now," Linus explained. "It happened when I first got my trombone. A few days later my grandmother came to our house and she wanted to see it. She said when I wear my glasses and have the trombone in my hands; I look like a miniature version of Glenn Miller. So that's what my family calls me now."
"Good story," said Charlie Brown as he wished that someone famous had played the mellophone. That way, maybe he could have a neat nickname too.
"Are you looking forward to the game tonight, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked enthusiastically.
"I guess so. I'm a little nervous though." Charlie Brown admitted.
"Charlie Brown, you get nervous just making a trip to the water fountain. Just relax! It will be fun, and everything will be fine. You'll see." Linus said to reassure his friend.
"I hope so, Linus." Charlie Brown said doubtfully.
That afternoon, none of the band students could sit still. They were anxiously awaiting the end of the school day. Charlie Brown made the time pass faster for himself by sitting at his desk and admiring the Little Red Haired Girl. Before long it was 3:00 in the afternoon. When the bell rang, the students rushed down to the band room. It was time for the traditional pregame dinner, which consisted of pizza and root beer. The large stack of pizzas that was delivered to the band room quickly disappeared, as it was eaten up by the hungry band students.
"Well men," Snoopy addressed his section, "It doesn't get any better than this; pizza, root beer, and half a dozen bugles!" The trumpet section lifted their root beer glasses and toasted.
"!! !!!?" asked Woodstock.
"No, I don't think so. Not everyone likes bird seed. Especially as a pizza topping." Snoopy replied
"!!!!! !!?"
"Yes, I suppose some vanilla ice cream would taste good in this root beer," Snoopy agreed.
When the traditional pregame dinner was over, the students all sat down in their respective sections to practice before the game. The students were fired up, and the music sounded perfect. They could tell that Mr. Dunlap was pleased with them.
A few hours later the band was lined up on the sidelines ready to take the field for the halftime show. Focused and at attention, the band was ready for their first performance of the season.
"And now, for you're halftime entertainment....the marching band will perform the songs Malaga, Tiger of San Pedro, Santana, and Spanish Nightmare!" The announcer called out over the PA system. Taking a cue from Mr. Dunlap, the band began their show.
Upon hearing the first few bars of the music, the audience became quickly disappointed. Unfortunately, this audience was a football crowd, and did not appreciate the artistic qualities that the halftime show had offer. And because the band had played Spanish music for half time during the past several years, the musically uneducated football crowd did could not tell the difference between one Spanish song and the next.
"Play Free Bird!" Play CCR! Play Bohemian Rhapsody!" the crowd shouted. In addition to not being musically inclined, the football crowd had also tailgated a bit too much, and many of them were under the effects of too much root beer. When the band began to play the song Santana, people in the crowd recognized the song as being either something the band had played before, or something that sounded almost exactly like they had played before. Maybe even both. Rumblings of discussion quickly took place in the crowd. "This sounds familiar," they said to each other. "Did they play this last year?"
Then suddenly someone in the crowd began to chant, "THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!! THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!!"
Soon the whole crowd joined in, "THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!! THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!!"
After Santana was over, the band began to play "Tiger of San Pedro". Someone in the crowd began to chant, "Oh! They know TWO songs!!"
And once again, the crowd soon joined in and everyone was chanting, "Oh! They know TWO songs!! Oh! They know TWO songs!!"
The band knew what was going on around them, and they were quickly becoming frustrated. As they began their last song, "Spanish Nightmare", they didn't think things could get any worse.
"Another Spanish song?!" the football crowd said to one another. "Why ANOTHER Spanish song? What's going on?" They then began to chant, "BOARING!! BOARING!! BOARING!!"
In the middle of Spanish Nightmare, Marcie had a cymbal crash. Unfortunately, after playing this cymbal crash, Marcie lost control of one of her cymbals. It flew from out of her hand and ended up landing halfway across the field. Unfortunately, there was a backwards move at the exact spot where the cymbal landed. Charlie Brown marched backwards and had no way of seeing the cymbal and instantly tripped over it and fell landing right on his back. "AAUGH!!" he shouted as he fell backwards. Because this was a backwards marching move, Molly volley could not see that Charlie Brown was now on the ground, nor could she hear his cry. Charlie Brown could also not move out of the way in time, so she fell backwards on top of Charlie Brown. And then, some trombones fell on top of the mellophones, followed by a couple of clarinets. Before they knew it, there was a pile- up of about six or seven students right on the forty yard line. It was a mess. The football crowd could not believe their eyes. Pileups were supposed to happen during a football game. That was typical. But during halftime? This was something totally different.
When all of this was going on, Snoopy just happened to look in the backfield. He instantly saw what was happening. "Those blockheads! They're ruining our trumpet feature!" He thought to himself. When the fiasco of a halftime show was finally over, the band quietly returned to their seats in the stands. All Mr. Dunlap could do was shake his head. To make things worse, they had to stay for the rest of the game to play music in the stands.
"The 'Chicken Dance' is up now, Kid. Get ready to play!" Molly Volley told Charlie Brown. Taking the cue from Mr. Dunlap, the band began to play. They sounded good and the crowd actually enjoyed the music, and many people were dancing in the stands. The band began to feel a little bit better about the halftime fiasco, now that the football crowd was actually enjoying their music. This lasted only for a few minutes, however. Unfortunately, the students soon saw a confrontation between Mr. Dunlap and the football coaches' wife.
"What's going on, Linus?" Charlie Brown turned around and asked, when they had finished playing.
"It seems that the football coaches' wife is upset with Mr. Dunlap, Charlie Brown." He replied. "Apparently, the football team thought we were making fun of them by playing the 'Chicken Dance' song, and now they're all upset."
"What in the world? But why?" Charlie Brown said as he instantly realized the ridiculousness of the situation.
Mr. Dunlap instantly tried to make amends by picking a different song for the band to play.
"Alright, Kid. Get ready to play 'Call me Al'!" Molly Volley ordered.
Although the band played the music incredibly well, and the football crowed danced and enjoyed the music, this was still not enough satisfy the football team. The crowed began to sing along, only instead of singing "You can call me Al", they "You can call Mr. Sal!" Mr. Sal was the name of one of the football coaches. Even though this was meant in harmless fun, Mr. Sal quickly took offence to this. He immediately glared at Mr. Dunlap and the band, with a look that clearly said, "Stop playing or else!" So once again the band had to quit playing just because of a complaint from the football team.
After one frustrating night, Charlie Brown slowly made his way home. "Why can't things ever be simple for me?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. "We worked so hard and look what happened. Why did I have to be such a blockhead and trip over Marcie's cymbal and cause a huge pileup during half time? I want the band to do well, probably more than anyone else. So why do things keep on going wrong. WHY CAN'T I HAVE A NORMAL BAND EXPERIENCE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?!?!" He cried.
Charlie Brown then saw Snoopy walking past as he played a Herb Alpert tune on his trumpet.
"And why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else!?!?"
Disclaimer: This chapter contains references to the 1980's movie "Leader of the Band"
Charlie Brown soon got over the embarrassment of landing himself in the emergency room during band camp. That was a typical thing to have happen to him, he thought. The weeks of summer were soon over and everyone was soon back in school. With the coming of the autumn also came the football season. This also meant that it would soon be time for the band to start going to competitions.
On the first Friday of the school year, all of the band students were excited. That night would be their very first football game of the season. During lunch, all of the kids were in little groups talking with anticipation of the evening's football game. Charlie Brown was excited too, but he was also a little anxious.
"What's for lunch today, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked as he sat down next to Charlie Brown.
"The same as usual. Peanut butter," Charlie Brown said with a sigh.
"Let's see," Linus said as he looked though his lunch bag. "Carrot sticks, chocolate covered raisins, and an egg salad sandwich. Oh, wait! Here's another note from my mother," Linus said as he took a little piece of paper from the bag. His mother always put a little note in his lunch. "Good luck tonight, make us proud! I can't wait to hear our Little Glenn Miller play with his band tonight. Love, Mom." Linus read aloud.
"Little Glenn Miller?" inquired Charlie Brown.
"Yeah. That's what my family calls me now," Linus explained. "It happened when I first got my trombone. A few days later my grandmother came to our house and she wanted to see it. She said when I wear my glasses and have the trombone in my hands; I look like a miniature version of Glenn Miller. So that's what my family calls me now."
"Good story," said Charlie Brown as he wished that someone famous had played the mellophone. That way, maybe he could have a neat nickname too.
"Are you looking forward to the game tonight, Charlie Brown?" Linus asked enthusiastically.
"I guess so. I'm a little nervous though." Charlie Brown admitted.
"Charlie Brown, you get nervous just making a trip to the water fountain. Just relax! It will be fun, and everything will be fine. You'll see." Linus said to reassure his friend.
"I hope so, Linus." Charlie Brown said doubtfully.
That afternoon, none of the band students could sit still. They were anxiously awaiting the end of the school day. Charlie Brown made the time pass faster for himself by sitting at his desk and admiring the Little Red Haired Girl. Before long it was 3:00 in the afternoon. When the bell rang, the students rushed down to the band room. It was time for the traditional pregame dinner, which consisted of pizza and root beer. The large stack of pizzas that was delivered to the band room quickly disappeared, as it was eaten up by the hungry band students.
"Well men," Snoopy addressed his section, "It doesn't get any better than this; pizza, root beer, and half a dozen bugles!" The trumpet section lifted their root beer glasses and toasted.
"!! !!!?" asked Woodstock.
"No, I don't think so. Not everyone likes bird seed. Especially as a pizza topping." Snoopy replied
"!!!!! !!?"
"Yes, I suppose some vanilla ice cream would taste good in this root beer," Snoopy agreed.
When the traditional pregame dinner was over, the students all sat down in their respective sections to practice before the game. The students were fired up, and the music sounded perfect. They could tell that Mr. Dunlap was pleased with them.
A few hours later the band was lined up on the sidelines ready to take the field for the halftime show. Focused and at attention, the band was ready for their first performance of the season.
"And now, for you're halftime entertainment....the marching band will perform the songs Malaga, Tiger of San Pedro, Santana, and Spanish Nightmare!" The announcer called out over the PA system. Taking a cue from Mr. Dunlap, the band began their show.
Upon hearing the first few bars of the music, the audience became quickly disappointed. Unfortunately, this audience was a football crowd, and did not appreciate the artistic qualities that the halftime show had offer. And because the band had played Spanish music for half time during the past several years, the musically uneducated football crowd did could not tell the difference between one Spanish song and the next.
"Play Free Bird!" Play CCR! Play Bohemian Rhapsody!" the crowd shouted. In addition to not being musically inclined, the football crowd had also tailgated a bit too much, and many of them were under the effects of too much root beer. When the band began to play the song Santana, people in the crowd recognized the song as being either something the band had played before, or something that sounded almost exactly like they had played before. Maybe even both. Rumblings of discussion quickly took place in the crowd. "This sounds familiar," they said to each other. "Did they play this last year?"
Then suddenly someone in the crowd began to chant, "THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!! THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!!"
Soon the whole crowd joined in, "THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!! THEY ONLY KNOW ONE SOOONG!!!"
After Santana was over, the band began to play "Tiger of San Pedro". Someone in the crowd began to chant, "Oh! They know TWO songs!!"
And once again, the crowd soon joined in and everyone was chanting, "Oh! They know TWO songs!! Oh! They know TWO songs!!"
The band knew what was going on around them, and they were quickly becoming frustrated. As they began their last song, "Spanish Nightmare", they didn't think things could get any worse.
"Another Spanish song?!" the football crowd said to one another. "Why ANOTHER Spanish song? What's going on?" They then began to chant, "BOARING!! BOARING!! BOARING!!"
In the middle of Spanish Nightmare, Marcie had a cymbal crash. Unfortunately, after playing this cymbal crash, Marcie lost control of one of her cymbals. It flew from out of her hand and ended up landing halfway across the field. Unfortunately, there was a backwards move at the exact spot where the cymbal landed. Charlie Brown marched backwards and had no way of seeing the cymbal and instantly tripped over it and fell landing right on his back. "AAUGH!!" he shouted as he fell backwards. Because this was a backwards marching move, Molly volley could not see that Charlie Brown was now on the ground, nor could she hear his cry. Charlie Brown could also not move out of the way in time, so she fell backwards on top of Charlie Brown. And then, some trombones fell on top of the mellophones, followed by a couple of clarinets. Before they knew it, there was a pile- up of about six or seven students right on the forty yard line. It was a mess. The football crowd could not believe their eyes. Pileups were supposed to happen during a football game. That was typical. But during halftime? This was something totally different.
When all of this was going on, Snoopy just happened to look in the backfield. He instantly saw what was happening. "Those blockheads! They're ruining our trumpet feature!" He thought to himself. When the fiasco of a halftime show was finally over, the band quietly returned to their seats in the stands. All Mr. Dunlap could do was shake his head. To make things worse, they had to stay for the rest of the game to play music in the stands.
"The 'Chicken Dance' is up now, Kid. Get ready to play!" Molly Volley told Charlie Brown. Taking the cue from Mr. Dunlap, the band began to play. They sounded good and the crowd actually enjoyed the music, and many people were dancing in the stands. The band began to feel a little bit better about the halftime fiasco, now that the football crowd was actually enjoying their music. This lasted only for a few minutes, however. Unfortunately, the students soon saw a confrontation between Mr. Dunlap and the football coaches' wife.
"What's going on, Linus?" Charlie Brown turned around and asked, when they had finished playing.
"It seems that the football coaches' wife is upset with Mr. Dunlap, Charlie Brown." He replied. "Apparently, the football team thought we were making fun of them by playing the 'Chicken Dance' song, and now they're all upset."
"What in the world? But why?" Charlie Brown said as he instantly realized the ridiculousness of the situation.
Mr. Dunlap instantly tried to make amends by picking a different song for the band to play.
"Alright, Kid. Get ready to play 'Call me Al'!" Molly Volley ordered.
Although the band played the music incredibly well, and the football crowed danced and enjoyed the music, this was still not enough satisfy the football team. The crowed began to sing along, only instead of singing "You can call me Al", they "You can call Mr. Sal!" Mr. Sal was the name of one of the football coaches. Even though this was meant in harmless fun, Mr. Sal quickly took offence to this. He immediately glared at Mr. Dunlap and the band, with a look that clearly said, "Stop playing or else!" So once again the band had to quit playing just because of a complaint from the football team.
After one frustrating night, Charlie Brown slowly made his way home. "Why can't things ever be simple for me?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. "We worked so hard and look what happened. Why did I have to be such a blockhead and trip over Marcie's cymbal and cause a huge pileup during half time? I want the band to do well, probably more than anyone else. So why do things keep on going wrong. WHY CAN'T I HAVE A NORMAL BAND EXPERIENCE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?!?!" He cried.
Charlie Brown then saw Snoopy walking past as he played a Herb Alpert tune on his trumpet.
"And why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else!?!?"