American Soldier

Toby Keith's American Soldier is an inspiring song about the life of an American Soldier.  It starts off saying how the soldier is simply trying to take care of his family, trying to make sure that they are happy.  He then talks about how he isn't a soldier for the money, or the glory, of the fame, but because it is his duty as an American to protect his country and his family, because he knows that "freedom don't come free."  An interesting thing I found in this video is how it keeps flashing back to the Civil War.  It is saying that the American soldier we know today is not any different than the American soldier 150 years ago.  They are just as brave, just as courageous, and they deserve the same amount of respect and love.

This song shows the patriotism that we all should share when speaking of our troops.  They are making sacrifices to make sure that we have a place we can call home, a place where we can feel safe in, a place where we can feel free.  But we don't.  We don't share the love, devotion, patriotism towards our troops like we should, like they deserve.  They are sacrificing their lives, their families, to make sure that complete strangers are happy.  American soldiers are the heroes of this country, and we could never give them enough to repay them for everything they have given us.




Resources:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/american-soldier-lyrics-toby-keith/c3ec8468c5df7f2a48256dd5002917ae

Taps

When I was doing my research on American patriotic songs, this was the last song that came to me.  Interestingly enough, this fits with the history of the song.

Taps was first used as a call to signal lights out during the Civil War, and was adapted by Union General Daniel Butterfield.  However after a time, General Butterfield felt that the song should play a much more important role than simply telling everyone to turn their lights out.  After taking part in many large battles, including the Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Gaines Mill, with the help of his brigade buglar, Oliver Wilcox Norton, he adapted the song to honor his men that died in battle. Taps was first used this way at Harrison's Landing, VA following the Seven Day's Battle in 1862.  Taps slowly spread throughout the Union army and was even used by the Confederates by the end of the war.  After the war, Taps was officially made a bugle call.

Its also fascinating about this call is that it is used no where else in the world.  Taps is solely an American song, that honors American heroes.  To this day it is played at funerals of fallen soldiers, wreath-layings, and memorial services.  To this day, it still represents what it was first used for 150 years ago, to signal "Lights Out" to those fallen soldiers, to signal the end of their days, to signal the impact they made on this country, and to honor them for everything they did to make sure the United States of America stayed free.

Born in the USA

Born in the USA is a highly emotional, and highly misinterpreted song.  Many people think that this song is about American patriotism and American pride, when actually Springsteen wanted to show the audience how shameful it was when the Vietnam soldiers returned from home and how they were welcomed.  This song is a patriotic song because it demonstrates the patriotism he had for the soldiers that served in Vietnam and the respect he had for these citizens to give up their life to protect the country.    Because of the sacrifice these men took to protect their country he did not agree with what they came home too and the treatment they received.  He knew that they did not have a choice on whether or not they wanted to fight, and that they were simply following orders.  He knew that they did not want to leave their loved ones, leave their homes, leave their comfortable lives to fight in a war they did not agree with.  But they still did because it was their duty.  Just like it was the citizens of America, at the time, to support the troops because they did not control where they were sent, or who they fought.  They were simply following orders by people who thought they knew what was best for the country.  And knowing this, knowing the sacrifice that these men made he was ashamed by the people of America and their treatment to these soldiers.





Resources:
http://www.lyricsdomain.com/2/bruce_springsteen/born_in_the_usa.html
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1014

Citizen Soldier

When you think about the armed forces, what do you think about? I think about the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines.  You do not typically think about the National Guard, the citizen soldiers of America, do you?  The branch of the armed forces that probably has the most significantly direct impact on our lives in times of a crisis, and we do not think of them.  3DoorsDown saw this and wanted to put a stop to it.  They wanted the National Guard to begin to get some recognition.  With their song Citizen Soldier they were able to achieve this.

Throughout the entire song, 3DoorsDown is singing about how the National Guard is always there when the citizens are in need of them.  "When there are people crying in the streets/ When they're starving for a meal to eat/ When they simply need a place to make their beds/ Right here underneath my wing/ You can rest your head."  This verse is saying that no matter what it is, no matter what you need, the National Guard will be there to help because they will always be there.  The National Guard's job is to protect U.S. soil and protect the citizens of the United States.  Because of this job, they do not travel across seas to foreign countries, but they are always here, always ready to help in the time of a crisis.



Resources:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/0-9/3_doors_down/citizen_soldier.html

Appalachian Spring

The word Patriotism means "the love and devotion to one's country."  This could be anything about that country, its government, its troops, its people.  In Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring he does a magnificent job of describing the beauty of America's landscape and scenery.  As you may have recalled from my first blog, Aaron Copland is sometimes referred to as the father of traditional American sound and music, and because of this all of his music relates back to America.

Appalachian Spring is based off the American Shaker melody entitled Simple Gifts, which was written in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett.  Simple Gifts is a simple song that has a joyous melody and beautiful message, that the most simple things in life are some of the greatest gifts.  This is what Copland wanted Appalachian Spring to represent.  He wanted his audience to know that some of the best things America had to offer was the simple beauty of the landscape and the scenery.  Now go back and listen to Appalachian Spring again and close your eyes and picture a simple car ride through the mountains, with the windows rolled down, you can feel the breeze on your face, and you'll see what Copland wanted you to see.




Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwH6-QmvM5c&feature=related
http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/appalachian.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Spring

Where Were You?

After the 9/11 terrorists attacks, country singer/song writer, Alan Jackson had so many thoughts and emotions running through him that he knew he wanted to write a song expressing them.  Jackson said, "I didn't want to write a patriotic song. And I didn't want it to be vengeful either. But I didn't want to forget about how I felt and how I knew other people felt that day." And because of this, the song did not come to him until 6 weeks after the attacks.

On Sunday, October 28, 2001, Jackson woke up at 4 a.m. with the melody and opening lines running through his head.  He quickly got out of bed and sang his ideas into a hand-held recorder so he would not forget them.  Later that day, while his wife and daughter were at church he stayed home and completed writing the lyrics to "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)".

This song focuses on other people's reactions to the attacks in the form of questions.  One of the verses goes like, "Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow?/ Go out and buy you a gun?/ Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'/ And turn on I Love Lucy reruns?"  In this one verse Jackson shows three different reactions to the 9/11 attacks.  Some people simply went home wondering what was going to happen tomorrow, some people thought about protecting themselves and their families so they bought a gun, and some people simply stopped watching violence and watched an American classic.  Later on in the song he quotes the New Testament and says, "Faith, hope and love are some good things he gave us/ And the greatest is love."  This is probably the most powerful line in the entire song.  This one line shows how much love was in America after the 9/11 attacks.  How much love there was for the country, the love for every American citizen, and the love for the troops.  After the attacks, America's patriotism was at a high, and Alan Jackson did an amazing job making you feel that as you listen to his song.



Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Were_You_(When_the_World_Stopped_Turning)

Fanfare for the Common Man

Aaron Copland is known for 'creating' the sound for American music and is widely known for his contributions to American musical tonality. In the year 1942, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Gossens, wrote Copland informing him of an idea he had.  During World War I, Gossens had asked British composers to compose ten fanfares to perform at the beginning of orchestral concerts, and Gossens wanted to do the same thing for World War II; however, he asked American composers, Copland being one of them. Gossens wanted fanfares to express the American idealism and foster support and patriotism for the troops fighting in World War II.  Out of the ten fanfares played by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra through the next two years, Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man still remains on the standard set list for the Orchestra to this day. With its soaring trumpets and powerful horns throughout the piece, this song displays tons of patriotism, nobility, and pride for America.

And on a side note, Copland decided to call the piece Fanfare for the Common Man because the song was meant to raise support for the troops fighting, and he knew that those troops were simple people, common men; therefore, he dedicated the song to them.


Resources:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5158688