Yes. Sadly, yes. I DID really like the song after 9/11. But more and more, I see how we are no longer free. It's a lie. I'm saddled in student loan and medical debt. My rent keeps going up. HOPING my salary will improve... but I'm a teacher in the USA, so hope is fleeting.
And let's not forget that the US flag has been taken hostage since it was defiled by the orange one hugging it (talk about a barf-inducing moment!!). Now it's seen flying from rust bucket trucks, presumably stating, "I'm 'Murican and trump supporter"...not a patriot (which word, by the way, is also now defiled). Gotta go! Lunch is coming back up!
Aptly put! The flag, the term patriot, and I'd say the song have all been defiled. I know little of the composer/singer... but if he's a 45 supporter... blech.
Having been a Midwestern infant when the song debuted, I grew up loving it. I associated it with watching the city’s 7/4 firework display with the car radio tuned to the local station that was providing the music. Back then, I was too young and too blissfully naive to have understood your disgust.
I was a really patriotic little kid. I would stand on top of our slide and sing the national anthem to the neighborhood. I was devastated when my Fourth of July hair barrette blew out of our minivan, lost forever. I loved learning about American history, reciting the preamble to the constitution, and creating mnemonics to remember the capitols of each state. The Veterans’ Day assembly at my school inspired awe.
•But then the OKC bombing happened.
•Then Columbine.
•Then 9/11 and the misguided War on Terror.
•Then (and now) school shooting after school shooting after fucking school shooting.
•Then I learned that my parents would detour to avoid violent anti-abortion protestors during the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” in Wichita.
•Then I gained $200K of med school debt at the same time that loan deferment during residency was eliminated.
•Then my state passed laws with very harsh penalties for puppy mill operators but couldn’t be bothered to stiffen the consequences for abusers of children.
•Then docs in FL were told that they couldn’t ask about guns in the home during well child checks.
•Then I started seeing so many depressed and anxious kids with so few options for therapy. And anxious parents who work 3 jobs but are one flat tire away from being unable to pay rent.
•Then Michael Brown, Tamil Rice, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and all the others.
•Then we couldn’t get passed our screwy notions of “freedom” to protect our fellow humans by wearing masks.
•Then January 6th happened.
Today, I am a jaded patriot. I love my homeland but I am not proud of it. I don’t have a desire to sing or hear songs about our nation’s nonexistent virtues. I don’t think “We’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way” is a lyric that makes us look good. “Try that in a small town” smacks of an American tendency toward bigotry and intolerance. Until we build systems that actually encourage kindness, acceptance, nonviolent problem solving, and equity, I’ll stick with The Chicks’ “March, March” as my patriotic song of choice.
Thank you, James, for writing this. Ive detested that POS song since the first time I heard it, for precisely all the reasons you listed; it's nice to know I'm in good company!
I never could stand that over bloated song - and as a DJ I had to play the thing! Also, the singer isn't a great person as well! He would back the Proud Boys if it got him fans! This isn't the country my family fought for in the last 300 years! Wages are stagnant, rents are outrageous, and now politicians in some of our states are doing away with Age of Consent and they are more worried about drag Queens then the straight males harming their children! No Ia m not proud to be an American!
What a fantastic tribute "God Bless the USA" is to its creators, all of whom love this nation so much that they never took any payment for their involvement in the record.
What's that? They've made millions off it? Dear me. I'm so disappointed.
Forty years later, it remains stunning to me that any but the most jingoistic, reactionary *P*A*T*R*I*O*T*S*!! believe this song is more than a con job by a group of grifters -- from the Nam-avoiding crooner who penned and oversang it for the record company hacks who put it on vinyl, to the DJs and political creeps who continue to exploit its inexplicable popularity to this day.
If you've seen Robert Altman's "Nashville," you might remember that the movie opens with Henry Gibson's character recording a song called "200 Years." It's a treacly salute to the bicentennial in which the narrator recounts his great love for the country and his belief that "we must be doing something right to last 200 years." It's played completely straight, the most powerful variety of satire.
"God Bless the USA," accepted by tens or perhaps hundreds of millions as a show of deep-seated patriotism, is less genuine than Gibson's deliberate hokum.
When I first played that song on the air in 1983, I saw it for what it is. I tried to keep it off the air as much as possible, but the other announcers liked it. The lyrics drip with emotions that appeal to less educated residents of mobile home parks. knowutimean? The repugs use that emotional pull to get their foot in the political door.
I know all this, and I hope I'm the Dolly Parton type of patriot. But it feels a lot more meaningful to hear this from a Canandian. Sigh. Thank you, James.
Yes. Sadly, yes. I DID really like the song after 9/11. But more and more, I see how we are no longer free. It's a lie. I'm saddled in student loan and medical debt. My rent keeps going up. HOPING my salary will improve... but I'm a teacher in the USA, so hope is fleeting.
I feel the same way! And I'm also a teacher. I realized several years ago we weren't free.
Why couldn't he just write about his woman leaving with the kids and his truck not starting?
His cries of "Freedumb" ring hollow.
And let's not forget that the US flag has been taken hostage since it was defiled by the orange one hugging it (talk about a barf-inducing moment!!). Now it's seen flying from rust bucket trucks, presumably stating, "I'm 'Murican and trump supporter"...not a patriot (which word, by the way, is also now defiled). Gotta go! Lunch is coming back up!
Aptly put! The flag, the term patriot, and I'd say the song have all been defiled. I know little of the composer/singer... but if he's a 45 supporter... blech.
Having been a Midwestern infant when the song debuted, I grew up loving it. I associated it with watching the city’s 7/4 firework display with the car radio tuned to the local station that was providing the music. Back then, I was too young and too blissfully naive to have understood your disgust.
I was a really patriotic little kid. I would stand on top of our slide and sing the national anthem to the neighborhood. I was devastated when my Fourth of July hair barrette blew out of our minivan, lost forever. I loved learning about American history, reciting the preamble to the constitution, and creating mnemonics to remember the capitols of each state. The Veterans’ Day assembly at my school inspired awe.
•But then the OKC bombing happened.
•Then Columbine.
•Then 9/11 and the misguided War on Terror.
•Then (and now) school shooting after school shooting after fucking school shooting.
•Then I learned that my parents would detour to avoid violent anti-abortion protestors during the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” in Wichita.
•Then I gained $200K of med school debt at the same time that loan deferment during residency was eliminated.
•Then my state passed laws with very harsh penalties for puppy mill operators but couldn’t be bothered to stiffen the consequences for abusers of children.
•Then docs in FL were told that they couldn’t ask about guns in the home during well child checks.
•Then I started seeing so many depressed and anxious kids with so few options for therapy. And anxious parents who work 3 jobs but are one flat tire away from being unable to pay rent.
•Then Michael Brown, Tamil Rice, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and all the others.
•Then we couldn’t get passed our screwy notions of “freedom” to protect our fellow humans by wearing masks.
•Then January 6th happened.
Today, I am a jaded patriot. I love my homeland but I am not proud of it. I don’t have a desire to sing or hear songs about our nation’s nonexistent virtues. I don’t think “We’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way” is a lyric that makes us look good. “Try that in a small town” smacks of an American tendency toward bigotry and intolerance. Until we build systems that actually encourage kindness, acceptance, nonviolent problem solving, and equity, I’ll stick with The Chicks’ “March, March” as my patriotic song of choice.
That was incredibly thoughtful.
Thank you, James, for writing this. Ive detested that POS song since the first time I heard it, for precisely all the reasons you listed; it's nice to know I'm in good company!
I always loathed that vapid piece of shit too.
I never could stand that over bloated song - and as a DJ I had to play the thing! Also, the singer isn't a great person as well! He would back the Proud Boys if it got him fans! This isn't the country my family fought for in the last 300 years! Wages are stagnant, rents are outrageous, and now politicians in some of our states are doing away with Age of Consent and they are more worried about drag Queens then the straight males harming their children! No Ia m not proud to be an American!
But how do you REALLY feel? 😂
What a fantastic tribute "God Bless the USA" is to its creators, all of whom love this nation so much that they never took any payment for their involvement in the record.
What's that? They've made millions off it? Dear me. I'm so disappointed.
Forty years later, it remains stunning to me that any but the most jingoistic, reactionary *P*A*T*R*I*O*T*S*!! believe this song is more than a con job by a group of grifters -- from the Nam-avoiding crooner who penned and oversang it for the record company hacks who put it on vinyl, to the DJs and political creeps who continue to exploit its inexplicable popularity to this day.
If you've seen Robert Altman's "Nashville," you might remember that the movie opens with Henry Gibson's character recording a song called "200 Years." It's a treacly salute to the bicentennial in which the narrator recounts his great love for the country and his belief that "we must be doing something right to last 200 years." It's played completely straight, the most powerful variety of satire.
"God Bless the USA," accepted by tens or perhaps hundreds of millions as a show of deep-seated patriotism, is less genuine than Gibson's deliberate hokum.
That and the okie from muskogie tune. I hate country music. Gagck. I just lost my appetite for anything.
There’s a lot of country not like these songs. Some quite progressive.
Lee Greenwood's 1st draft:
And I'm proud to be a redneck!
Way down South in Dixie!
And I won't forget the racist men
Flyin’ that Southern Cross unholy!
And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I’ll make this land
God bless whatever the hell I say!
When I first played that song on the air in 1983, I saw it for what it is. I tried to keep it off the air as much as possible, but the other announcers liked it. The lyrics drip with emotions that appeal to less educated residents of mobile home parks. knowutimean? The repugs use that emotional pull to get their foot in the political door.
Hear! Hear! Worst.song.ever.
Great, now this stupid stupid song is in my head and I'll have to actually listen to it to get it out. WHY? LOL
I know all this, and I hope I'm the Dolly Parton type of patriot. But it feels a lot more meaningful to hear this from a Canandian. Sigh. Thank you, James.