Musical Easter Egg in GT7
I have no idea why I've decided to write this down. I guess I'm channeling my inner Aaron and writing about video games. But I came across this easter egg recently and have been freaking out about it with no one to tell. This requires a bit of explanation before we get to the meat of the matter so here goes...
Gran Turismo 7 went on sale a few weeks ago so I picked it up. I'm not a huge car guy, but like any god-fearing, red-blooded American, I like my cute little Japanese roadsters. Any time I can throw a super-charger in a first-gen Miata then race it against cars 3 times my size is a good time.
When you boot up the game for the first time, they put you into a new mode as a form of tutorial called 'Music Rally'. You drive while listening to musical mash-ups set to a thumping four-on-the-floor beat. The goal is to see how far you can drive before you 'run out of beats' or the song ends. Whichever comes first. Several levels are set to classical music mash-ups, including one called 'Hooked on America'. This is lots of tunes you'll recognize from American composers like Stephen Foster, George Gershwin etc. The last song that plays is (what initially sounds like) Battle Hymn of the Republic.
It's a very stirring song, and while it starts by doing a few verses instrumentally, a chorus starts in during the 'Glory Glory Hallelujah' part. I have to admit it is a great feeling. Racing sims like GT7 are all about getting into the right head-space. Once you get locked in, feeling the car, the road, hugging the corners, hitting the apex... it's amazing. And the music really helps with that. The driving beat and familiar melodies really help me get into the right mood emotionally to get focused on the race. My only problem is with the actual song selection. Battle Hymn's full lyrics are very militaristic and have been used as a rallying cry by right-wing fascist nutjobs for many years. Which is a shame since it's such a beautiful tune, and was actually written by an abolitionist during the Civil War.
BUT HERE'S THE THING! (finally getting to the point after 5 paragraphs) Like a lot of the songs you recognize from the 19th century and before, Battle Hymn was not a truly original piece. It was just new lyrics written to an existing song. That song was called John Brown's Body. John Brown, a Kansan, was a much more radical abolitionist who was hanged for inciting a slave revolt at Harper's Ferry and taking over an arsenal in 1859. His execution, many historians believe, was the spark that eventually ignited the full-blown war. By way of example here's the 1942 painting of John Brown by John Curry called 'Tragic Prelude'
So, now that you know who John Brown was, back to GT7. The song they use in the mash-up is actually John Brown's Body, NOT Battle Hymn of the Republic. But how do I know? If you're not familiar with the songs, the verses are different, but the choruses are nearly identical. And since only the chorus is actually sung in 'Hooked on America', how do you know which it is? They both repeat 'Glory Glory Hallelujah' for three lines before the final fourth line of the chorus. In Battle Hymn, there are several variations of the last line. 'His truth goes marching on' is one. 'Our god goes marching on' is another. And of course different versions use different variations. But John Brown's body has 'His soul goes marching on'. No version of Battle Hymn I've ever heard has used 'His soul' for that section. And the lyrics they sing in GT7 are 'His soul'.
ISN'T THAT COOL?! Whoever was responsible for telling the chorus what lyrics to sing obviously knew the history of the song, had the same reservations about Battle Hymn that I've laid out, and chose the better version of the song.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this brief musical history lesson, thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
-Probably Apocryphal