SH!T WENT DOWN: Lee Greenwood and the Worst Song Ever Written

F*ck you, Melvin

If truck nuts were a song, it would be this song. “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Melvin Lee Greenwood is the anthem for people who steal catalytic converters for a living. It’s not just a terrible song, but a representation of toxic patriotism that helped the rise of Donald Trump. Fuck this song and anyone who loves it.

Yeah I hate the Macarena too but it’s not inherently war mongering, sexist, or racist. I call it the “worst” song ever written, but that’s a qualitative assessment that I shall endeavor to make a case for. It goes far beyond the song being ear-bleedingly bad.

Melvin has had a long career in country music, being a regular on the Billboard charts, but who fucking cares? This is his signature song, and it represents everything that sucks about America. Also known as “Proud to Be an American,” here’s part of the chorus:

And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you
And defend Her still today

Excuse me while I go blow my groceries.

Today is July 5, and speaking of things that are free, a lot of people are waking up today with their fingers having been recently liberated from their hands. Melvin says he knows he’s free in America. Let’s unpack that. Compared to many other developed nations, he’s free to have crushing medical debt, free to be murdered in a mass shooting, free to have his state execute him, and free to have the government dictate what books he’s allowed to read. Not that many fans of this song care much for reading.

Kinda ironic that the country with more people in prison than any other nation is the one Melvin goes on about how he’s so free. It’s also a nation where people are free to be forced incubators for fetuses, even if it puts their lives at risk. And with recent Supreme Court rulings businesses are free to discriminate against anyone they don’t approve of, students are free to continue to struggle under the weight of predatory student loans, and colleges are free to perpetuate centuries of racial oppression.

“I won’t forget the men who died …” Fuck the women though. And it’s a major goddamn stretch to say the military has anything to do with maintaining freedom in America. It’s a bloated and corrupt military-industrial method of control to maintain their empire, using poverty as the draft to keep the “volunteers” joining up.

“And I’ll gladly stand up next to you …” because I just love my guns and really would enjoy the chance to kill someone and have the state pat me on the back and say good fuckin’ job.

Do a good fuckin’ job and become a paying subscriber:

But it goes beyond the shit lyrics. This song has had an impact, and not a good one.

Released in 1984 when the militaristic Ronnie Raygun was bringing the world to the brink during the Cold War, it hit #7 on the Hot Country Singles chart. It was played at the 1984 Republican National Convention, and since then has become an anthem for the increasingly corrupt party. It was against used as a theme song for the campaign of George H.W. Bush in 1988, got a lot of play during the 1990-92 Gulf War, had another blast of popularity in the wake of 9/11 as well as during the criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

And, big fucking surprise, Trump used the song to both begin and end many of his racist rallies. Also not a surprise is that Melvin is a huge Trump supporter.

In an example of no one being perfect, Dolly Parton covered the song in 2003. But Dolly is a different type of patriot than Melvin is. There are two types of patriotism America. One is the kind that is more liberal, a civic-minded desire to improve the nation and make it more equitable for all citizens. The other type is more exclusionary, focused on an “us vs. them” type of ultranationalism. Dolly, a noted philanthropist and supporter of civil rights, is the former. Melvin, as I said, is an ardent Trump supporter, which tells you all you need to know about the type of patriot he is.

The toxic patriotism of the song God Bless the U.S.A. has come to embody the growing divisions in the United States, with it celebrating four decades as a rightwing anthem that promotes militarism, xenophobia, and discrimination against anything that isn’t white, male, and Christian.

Barf and puke and retch.  

Get my sweary fucking history book ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY SH!T WENT DOWN