NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The history of American patriotic songs offers a lesson about the different ways you can say you love your country.
Composers have celebrated endurance under fire ( ) and invoked divine approval (鈥淕od Bless America鈥�). While 鈥淢ade in America鈥� dares anyone to question American eminence, 鈥淭his Land Is Your Land鈥� and Curtis Mayfield’s 鈥淭his Is My Country鈥� highlight a long tradition of weaving in social protest, as if the advance to a 鈥渕ore perfect union鈥� is only possible through acknowledging imperfection.
Patriotic music is also a story of cultural independence. Well into the 19th century, writers were adapting new lyrics to popular melodies 鈥� usually originating in England 鈥� as a way of ensuring the songs would be widely known.
鈥淣owadays, it would be like, 鈥楬ere are my new lyrics that I just wrote, and you can sing them to this Beatles song,'” explains Loras John Schissel, a senior musicologist at the Library of Congress. 鈥淓veryone would say, 鈥極h, OK, I know that.鈥欌��
Here’s a list 鈥� admittedly subjective 鈥� of some notable patriotic songs, from colonial times to the present.
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鈥楾he Liberty Song鈥� (late 1760s)
The legacy of Pennsylvania-Delaware statesman John Dickinson has long been shadowed by his refusal to sign the . While he thought the break from Britain was premature, he does have some claim to being the lyricist for the earliest patriotic anthem. 鈥淭he Liberty Song鈥� is a forthright chant with a melody taken from the Royal Navy march, 鈥淗eart of Oak.鈥� Dickinson’s lyrics are an assertion of rights and a warning against would-be oppressors, amplifying colonial fears that all would be reduced to servitude: 鈥淚n freedom we鈥檙e born, and in freedom we鈥檒l live/Our purses are ready/Steady, Friends, steady.鈥�
鈥榊ankee Doodle鈥� (traditional song, original date unknown)
Like Dickinson’s song, 鈥淵ankee Doodle” wasn’t only a statement of rebellion, but of revision and even mockery. 鈥淵ankee Doodle鈥� was once a British marching song, tapped out on fife and drums and chanted by British troops in Boston. But by the end of the Revolutionary War, rebels had turned it back on their enemies and used it to accompany British retreat. Now wholly Americanized, 鈥淵ankee Doodle鈥� (or 鈥淵ankee Doodle Dandy鈥�) is the state song of Connecticut and known to movie lovers as the title to the Oscar-winning, World War II-era film that starred James Cagney.
‘My Country 鈥楾is of Thee鈥� (1831-1832)
Imagine a songwriter from a former U.S. territory turning 鈥淗ail to the Chief鈥� into a condemnation of the American way. Samuel Francis Smith was a theology student whose hymn to freedom and farewell to tyrants with 鈥渉aughty steps鈥� rests on the melody of 鈥淕od Save the King.鈥� It has been quoted during moments of protest (the during his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech) and sung during moments of unity. ( at President first inauguration). It also holds a poignant place in Civil War history: According to an eyewitness account, after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a gathering of Black people in South Carolina spontaneously sang it upon hearing that the state’s enslaved population had been declared free.
鈥楤attle Hymn of the Republic鈥� (1861-62)
Julia Ward Howe was a 19th-century abolitionist whose husband was a supporter of the martyred anti-slavery crusader John Brown and who adapted her hymn to the Union cause from the melody of 鈥淛ohn Brown’s Body,鈥� which she had heard during a public review of Union troops. The lyrics came to her in a haze. 鈥淚 awoke in the gray of the morning twilight; and as I lay waiting for the dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to twine themselves in my mind,鈥� she wrote in her memoir. And her song has since been heard everywhere from the to last year’s funeral for President .
鈥楪od Bless America鈥� (Written in 1918, revised in 1938)
Irving Berlin first intended his celebrated 鈥� and criticized 鈥� ode for a World War I era revue. But it didn’t quite fit with the show’s storyline. Berlin set it aside until the late 1930s, when fears of a new world war were rising. 鈥淕od Bless America鈥� was something of a break from earlier patriotic numbers, says Stephen Winick, a folklorist at the Library of Congress. It was written by an immigrant, and was a statement of personal allegiance (鈥淟and that I love鈥�) instead of collective force. Some even questioned whether Berlin had the right to compose it. 鈥淗e got mail from people basically saying, ‘How is it that you, this Russian Jew, has any right to ask God to bless America?鈥� Winick says.
鈥楾his Land Is Your Land鈥� (1940)
The Woody Guthrie standard was a response to 鈥淕od Bless America,鈥� if only because Guthrie believed that Berlin had failed to appreciate the country’s natural beauty beyond invoking 鈥渢he valleys and the prairies.鈥� Guthrie’s lyrical turns also fit the narrative of patriotism/protest, with its poetic imagery (鈥渄iamond deserts,鈥� 鈥渨heat fields waving鈥�), and its wry defiance 鈥� in at least one version of the song 鈥� of a seemingly sacred American right, private property: 鈥淎s I went walking I saw a sign there/And on the sign it said 鈥淣o Trespassing./But on the other side it didn鈥檛 say nothing.鈥�
鈥楤ack in the U.S.A.鈥� (1959)
once said that he composed his classic tour of rock ‘n’ roll Americana after feeling homesick during a trip to Australia. Berry’s tribute to skyscrapers, jukeboxes and the open road from 鈥渢he coast of California to the shores of the Delaware Bay鈥� has been covered by , among others. But not everyone saw the song as an all-out celebration. Citing Berry’s line about 鈥渓ooking HARD for a drive-in, searchin’ for a corner cafe,鈥� critic Dave Marsh once noted that Berry was well aware that many establishments in the 1950s refused to serve a Black man. 鈥淏erry never lets you be sure that he’s coming to grips with the contradictory mess we’ve made of things,鈥� Marsh wrote.
鈥楾his Is My Country鈥� (Take One, 1940)
Don Raye and Al Jacobs collaborated on this brisk and confident march, written as war broke out in Europe. The lyrics celebrate loyalty and call out for unity across geographic lines: 鈥淲hat diff鈥檙ence if I hail from North or South/Or from the East or West?/My heart is filled with love for all of these.鈥� The song has since been played at Disney theme park fireworks shows and recorded by everyone from Pat Boone to the Air Force Heritage of America Band.
鈥楾his Is My Country鈥� (Take Two, 1968)
Curtis Mayfield’s hard-hitting soul composition, recorded with his longtime group the Impressions, was released amid the civil rights movement. It’s a history lesson, an assertion of pride and place and a statement that a Black man’s patriotism comes out on the other end of unbearable suffering: 鈥淚’ve paid 300 years or more/Of slave driving, sweat, and welts on my back/This is my country.鈥�
鈥楾ravelin鈥� Soldier鈥� (1996)
Bruce Robinson鈥檚 classic, written in 1996 and rewritten in 1999, is narrative country at its folkiest: A story about a lonely American soldier during the Vietnam War corresponding with a young woman back home. It鈥檚 both romantic and painful: He dies, she mourns and it serves as powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by service members and those who love them. “Travelin’ Soldier鈥� became a hit in 2002-2003 for , formerly the Dixie Chicks, during a contentious national conversation about patriotism amid the aftermath of 9/11 and the impending Iraq War. It was revived last year by .
鈥楥hicken Fried鈥� (2005)
The inspired a new wave of across genres, with particular focus on rock and such country hits as Toby Keith’s 鈥淐ourtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).鈥� Zac Brown Band鈥檚 鈥淐hicken Fried,鈥� originally recorded in 2003, was an ode to cold beer, good jeans and other simple pleasures that became a sleeper anthem because of its often overlooked third verse. 鈥淚 thank God for my life / And for the stars and stripes / May freedom forever fly, let it ring,鈥� Brown sings a cappella, the lively instrumentation ceasing in exchange for listeners’ attention.
鈥楳ade in America鈥� (Take One, 2011)
Keith had written so many patriotic songs that he considered shelving 鈥淢ade in America鈥� for fear of overdoing it. A conversation with cowriter and actor/singer inspired his hit about the popularity of cheap, foreign-made products. Keith and Pinson turned out a power ballad about an old man 鈥渓ivin’ off the land,鈥� an upholder of traditional values so loyal to all things American that he’s willing to 鈥渟pend a little more in the store for a tag in the back that says 鈥楿SA.鈥欌��
鈥楳ade in America鈥� (Take Two, 2011)
Around the time Keith’s 鈥淢ade in America鈥� was released, Jay-Z and Kanye West were working on the protest/patriotic rap 鈥淪weet Baby Jesus,鈥� eventually named 鈥淢ade in America.鈥� The lyrics are a boast, a reminder and a vow to push forward, as if echoing King’s likening the American Dream to a promissory note the leaders had yet to make good on: 鈥淏uilt a republic that still stands/I鈥檓 tryna lead a nation, to leave to my little man鈥檚/Or my daughter, so I鈥檓 boiling this water/The scales was lopsided, I鈥檓 just restoring order.鈥�
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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed.
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