23 | PUP SUN I T E .ORG communitythoughts Springsteen called his popular ballad, “Born in the U.S.A.,” one of the best things he had ever done. “It was a G.I. blues,” he said, “the verses an accounting, the choruses a declaration of the one sure thing that could not be defined…birthplace.” Although, “Born in the U.S.A.” was not intended to be a patriotic song, it has been used as one, so must be mentioned. If one listens only to the refrain, the song could be mistaken for a patriotic song. But the lyrics are a blue-collar anthem detailing the mistreatment of returning Vietnam veterans. It points out the problem veterans experienced when they returned home from the war. They faced desperate circumstances with few options. President Reagan was moved by music. On the Saturday night before his January 1981 inauguration, he was emotionally overwhelmed by the concert at the Lincoln Memorial in which the Mormon Tabernacle Choir presented “God Bless America” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” He later recounted that moment to his speech writer, “That Lincoln Memorial… it’s such a beautiful place. I’ve never been filled with such a surge of patriotism. It was so hard not to cry during the whole thing.” Reagan later remembered, “it was so moving. I was crying frozen tears.” Lee Greenwood, a former Las Vegas lounge singer who found success in Nashville as country music’s male vocalist of the year in 1983, wrote “God Bless the U.S.A.,” considered to be a more conservative version of Springsteen’s hit song. His song was written in response to the 1983 Soviet downing of a Korean jet on a flight from New York to Seoul. A total of 63 Americans were on board the flight containing 269 passengers. When asked, Greenwood stated, “Did I know the song was special, a hit from the beginning? Well, every time you go into the studio to record a song, you think it is going to be a hit. But, yes, I knew this song was special because of the responses we received whenever we sang it live.” The Reagan camp notified Greenwood that they would like to use his song in campaign advertisements for their re-election efforts. Surprised, Greenwood gave his approval and licensed it for one dollar. It quickly became the Reagan-Bush re-election song, now commonly used as a conservative standard. This song promotes a life’s pattern of “perpetual promises and enduring dreams.” One of Greenwood’s fellow country music artists says, “’God Bless the U.S.A’ is an extremely patriotic, borderline over-the-top anthem that still ensures a standing ovation when performed today.” 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 ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God Bless the U.S.A. Our nation was founded upon the principle of a “land of opportunity,” a place where all have a “fair chance” as sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln phrased it. Greenwood’s song reminds us of overcoming crises. His song insists upon “perpetual promise and enduring dreams,” quite the contrast with Springsteen’s song of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. Be reminded that how these two songs are interpreted is a matter of perspective. President George W. Bush could have used former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous words “a date which will live in infamy” when referring to the dastardly, cowardly terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. On the following Friday in Washington National Cathedral, President Bush addressed the shocked nation. During the memorial service commemorating the lives of brave souls lost, the congregation sang, “O God Our Help in Ages Past” and “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” That was followed by a solo rendition of song writer Katherine Lee Bates’s “America the Beautiful.” The U.S. Army
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