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22 June 2012

Friday Music: "God Bless the USA" - Lee Greenwood

meta: I'm planning to start a new series today that I'm titling "Friday Music." In the past, I've randomly posted music and music videos, but now, I'm going to try to post these regularly on Fridays.
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I've been meaning to post this song for use in teaching for a while, and since some students and politicians protested a school in New York City on Monday after the principal barred its use at a school function, I figured it's pretty timely. I give you Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA":



There are countless concepts that could be addressed through this song. Foremost, of course, is nationalism (a/k/a patriotism). This could also lead to a discussion of ascribed statuses (e.g. citizenship at birth). There is some heteronormativity demonstrated in the lyric "If...I had to start again with just my children and my wife..." There is totemism (e.g. "...the flag still stands for freedom...") along with American Exceptionalism. Overall, it's ripe for analysis!

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UPDATE (6/28/2012): Lee Greenwood says America is Christian:

1 comment:

  1. Addressing the heteronormativity, I have heard versions of it where the lyrics were changed to "with just my family and my life."

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