Country Music and Patriotism

Part 1 of what is now a 3 part music series.

Country music is a broad category entailing many kinds of songs.  Sometimes in listening to "country stations" on the radio, I am confused about what country music is.  There are defining music styles and themes that clearly identify some songs as country. Among the many recurring themes or ideas found in country music is love of country, in this case, the country being the United States. 

What country singers often celebrate in family, grandparents, a loving wife, a farm, or a road leading home is personified in the United States as a country.  It should be no surprise that many country artists, including Johnny Cash, have been military veterans.  It should be no surprise that many country artists devote time to touring and performing for American troops overseas.

Country music heralds the flag, the military, freedom, and the unity of the idea of "God and country."  Like all patriotic sensibilities, sometimes it is overblown, often it echoes that much maligned concept of "American exceptionalism," and sometimes it is blind to America's faults.  But country music has often contained its own critiques of American actions. 

None of this can be used to easily put all country artists in the right wing of the Republican Party.  Many of the older musicians, like Bill Monroe, were old-time New Deal Democrats.  Ralph Stanley, in 2008, endorsed John Edwards (whose subsequent downfall looks like a country song) and later President Obama.  (In fact, Stanley was personally recruited by Pres. Obama.)  Del McCoury's CD Moneyland, which appeared around 2007, was a veiled call for a replacement of the Republican administration.  Some of the songs were drawn from the era of the Great Depression and were bemoaning the Hoover administration.

Still, it is hard to find many true blue liberals among country artists.  Either they are politically conservative, religiously conservative, or culturally conservative.  (And like even left-wing entertainers who profit from the free market sales of their work, they are business conservatives.)

Patriotism finds reason to celebrate the ideals and potential of this country even amidst the many flaws.
Perhaps the most popular patriotic country song of our time is Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA." While Greenwood has actually enjoyed many hits, this one has been the most successful and defining for him.  Like much good music, it has crossed the charts and is popular in all kinds of audiences and settings, but particularly patriotic settings.

Notice the words (and comments) below:

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

(Commentary:  An abiding belief in this country is the freedom we enjoy and the opportunities we have under that freedom.  So, in times like these when the economic situation is threatening "all the things...[we've] worked for all [our lives]" we still have the belief that freedom is better than material goods, that the love of a family can sustain us, and that freedom cannot be taken away.)
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 gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

(Commentary:  The freedom exists because men have fought and died for it.)
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

(Commentary:  There is a unity that is geographic and cultural.  The idea of what an American is--which has been a topic of discussion for centuries--is found in our pride of nationhood.)
That 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 gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

(Commentary: The repetition of the ideas and words of this song--accompanied by the music--reinforces the love of country based on freedom.  The prayer and wish for the song is for God's blessing on this country.)

We hope to highlight some other country songs that are patriotic in the days ahead.