John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 30 Mar 2002 7:18 pm |
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Here's some fun from Boulder, CO (My favorite t-shirt is a map of Boulder that says "Boulder--28 Square Miles Surrounded By Reality...).
I especially love his "facts"--like Brooks and Dunn writing "Only in America" to capitalize on 9/11 (wasn't the record already out before then?). Anyway, here goes...
Flag-waving or right-wing ramblin'?
Some say pro-American twang only weakens country
by Wayne Laugesen (Editorial@boulderweekly.com)
It's the morning of March 11-six months after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Millions of Americans are somber and depressed. A diverse crowd gathers to hear Alan Jackson perform his country hit "Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)" on a street near Ground Zero. Red people, white people, blue people seem to know the words, mouthing them as Jackson sings. Hundreds cry. Flags are held high. When the song ends people hug and wipe the tears from their eyes.
In the music business, God, Jesus, America and Old Glory are back in style and bigger than ever. In 2001, while overall album sales took a plunge, country sold 67,241,000 units, according to SoundScan. Could it be that people are searching for roots and simplicity in the wake of Sept. 11? The down-home soundtrack to the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? grabbed four Grammys, and is currently No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Billboard country charts, right in front of Jackson's Drive. Jackson has sold 35 million records and written 20 No. 1 songs. Underscoring his wide reach, he played New York's famous punk dive CBGB's (originally meaning country/bluegrass/blues) in early February. And amid the commercial success, "Where Were You" was entered into the Congressional Record by U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga. "These patriotic songs really strike a chord with the country audience," says Tad Svendsen, music director for Denver's KYGO 98.5 FM. "These songs speak to what people are feeling in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks."
When legendary country artists Brooks and Dunn decided to capitalize on the events of Sept. 11, they wrote "Only in America." The lyrics teach that only in America can "a welder's son and a banker's daughter hope for everything." The song goes on to wax poetic, with the line: "One kid dreams of fame and fortune, one kid helps pay the rent, one could end up going to prison, one might just be president." In case those lyrics don't make the flag-waving heart of America flutter, Brooks and Dunn throw challenge to the theory that dreams are color-blind: "Only in America, where we dream in red, white and blue." Profound it's not. Prophetic? Maybe. Only in America can artists dream up corny flag lyrics in exchange for fame and fortune. "America has a long tradition of anti-intellectualism," says Tom Riis, director of the University of Colorado's American Music Research Center. Throughout music recording history, American artists have quickly capitalized on national tragedies with "topical songs" that tap into the moods and political whims of the day, he says. "Often, when words alone fail us, music provides comfort," Riis continues. "Songs about God, Jesus and America are written and marketed to capitalize on the public's need for comfort and solidarity. It isn't so much the words alone, but the words and tone working together in a complex way-a phenomenon that's hard to understand. If it were easy to understand, we'd have a lot more hit songwriters out there. And if it were the words alone that explained it, then it would be poetry, rather than song, that comforted us in times such as this." Of course, few "topical" or "comfort" songs have had the staying power of Lee Greenwood's 1985 hit "God Bless the USA"-written as an antidote to the American shame and collective low self-esteem associated with the Vietnam War. Often sung just before the "Star Spangled Banner" at sporting events and other festivities, the song is preferred by hordes of Americans who, one could argue, secretly wish it were the national anthem. The song has never gone out of style, but it has seen frequent surges in popularity. Reagan used it in his second presidential campaign. Bush the Elder used it in his first bid for Commander in Chief. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf designated Greenwood's song the official anthem of the Gulf War. Its popularity surged after Marines were killed in Somalia. And it filled the void after Sept. 11 while Jackson dreamed up "Where Were You." (Jackson says the words and tune for "Where Were You" came to him while asleep in late October.)
Patriotism is simple stuff, it seems. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel every time American troops go to battle. Tony Priscaro, the drummer for a Pittsburgh band called Gashouse, understands this concept. While Jackson was songwriting in his sleep, Priscaro simply re-wrote the lyrics to Greenwood's hit and named his version "God Bless the USA 2001." Priscaro attributes his inspiration to the fact he was in Somerset County, Penn., when United's hijacked Flight 93 crashed. He was preparing for the band's gig that night, when Flight 93 flew over his head so low that he could feel the rumble. "Why was this plane flying so low?" Priscaro recalls thinking. "I was so intrigued that I watched it for a couple more minutes. Something didn't seem right; the plane was out of control. It ended up crashing a couple of miles from where I stood. I spent that whole day at the crash site helping any way I could." "And we're proud to be Americans," the chorus of "Proud To Be An American 2001" goes, "We stay united in D.C., We won't forget the people who died in the World Trade Tragedy, And we'll gladly stand up, next to them, The heroes that saved the day, There ain't no doubt they sparked this land, GOD Bless The USA."
Despite the unifying and comforting quality of the songs, not everyone likes them. Predictably, leftist, shiny ponytail-sporting, anti-American peace activists hate them. However, it's possible for a self-proclaimed "conservative American patriot" to hate songs such as "Where Were You?" and "Only in America," too. Shariar Ghalam owns SMG Construction in Boulder. Ghalam, 38, routinely boasts of the fact that he was born on the Fourth of July, in Iran-where he grew up. An act of defiance against Ghalam's native government that could have resulted in his death had it been discovered, he has carried the same small copy of the United States Constitution since he was 14. Ghalam flies the American flag over his home year round, and praises America's country music tradition, speaking highly of legendary singers like Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. He's an encyclopedia of facts, figures, names and dates pertaining to American history. Yet he hates "Where Were You"-a tune that oozes Yankee bravado. "This is a song that has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism, and everything to do with the deceptive marketing of patriotism," Ghalam explains. "This is a song in which the artist-a wannabe cowboy-appeals to the lowest common denominator. He's saying 'I'm ignorant, and it's OK to be ignorant.' His fans are ignorant, they know they're ignorant, and they're comforted by the fact that this man proudly proclaims his own ignorance. So they go out and buy his CD. Ignorance is not what made America great, and it's not what prevents wars."
The stupidest statement in the song, Ghalam says, resides in the chorus, which goes: "I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran." Iran and Iraq hate each other and have been at odds for centuries-up to and including the Iran and Iraq war of the 1980s, when Ghalam flew an F-5E fighter jet in order to kill Iraqis. Anyone who has ever read a newspaper or watched TV news, says Ghalam, should know the difference between two countries that have absolutely nothing in common other than a border. Not knowing the difference between them, Ghalam says, is sillier than failing to know the differences between Germany and France. Iraqis are Arabs of Semitic descent. Iranians are Persians of Aryan descent. The languages are different, the religions are historically different and the cultural values and mores defy comparison. "This song plays into the moronic idea some Americans have that they don't need to understand other countries and other cultures. It would take 10 minutes on a computer to understand the fundamental and monumental differences between Iraq and Iran," Ghalam argues. "This man is selling nothing other than ignorance and mediocrity at a time when that's the last thing we need to keep America great and strong." After declaring ignorance about Iraq and Iran, Jackson's chorus says: "But I know Jesus, and I talk to God..." As if, Ghalam argues, piety somehow dismisses willful ignorance about a hostile world. He doubts that Jackson and his fans really know much about Jesus. Xenophobes who don't bother to understand major regions of the world, would have a hard time embracing the truth about Jesus, he argues. "I'm not a religious man, but I have made the effort to study and understand all major religions in great detail," Ghalam says. "This notion that Jesus was some blond-haired, blue-eyed cowboy is ridiculous. Jesus was a short, dark-skinned Jew who went by the name 'Esaw.' He wasn't a cowboy who went by 'Carl' or 'Jack.'" Riis says successful artists long ago learned the value of "false modesty." No matter what Jackson knows about Iraq and Iran, Riis says, he's probably more commercially viable if he at least feigns ignorance. "Sometimes it's important, if a song is to be successful, that the artist use words that identify him as someone just like you and me," Riis continues. "If the listener perceives that all of this patriotism is coming from a college graduate, or a millionaire, it won't have the same appeal. It won't push the mood buttons that are essential to selling topical songs." Daniel Jones, who plays steel guitar in a country band and works as an instructor of music at CU, says artists use self effacement to fill a societal demand for boundary setting. "They need to establish for their audience that 'I'm a simple country person.' And right behind that is pride that says we're simple country people, but we know just what's going on and we have the answers," Jones says. "It's the same phenomenon that explains the popularity of 'The Beverly Hillbillies.'" Jones explains that just like Jackson, President Bush has benefited from appearing as a simple man with limited knowledge of foreign policy but all the answers to what's good and evil, right and wrong. Others defend Jackson's simplicity and candor, and label him the "Bob Dylan of country music." "We have been concerned about playing too many patriotic songs, for fear of appearing to exploit the situation for our own benefit," Svendsen says. "Our studies show, however, that we have been playing about the right amount of these songs, and our listeners are pleased to hear them."
And so what if it does legitimize ignorance? Isn't it just music? Aren't songs essentially harmless entertainment? Not necessarily, says Riis. Throughout history, music has played a significant role in both reacting to and establishing cultural values and conventional wisdom-factors that determine whether a world is at peace or at war. "Is art the cause or the result of social conditions?" Riis asks. "That's something we could debate all day and get nowhere. It's a chicken-or-egg type of question." Though Ghalam worries about the popularity of what he considers ignorant music and phony patriotism, he's glad it's only art. "I thank God this man only sells records," Ghalam says. "(Ayatollah) Khomeini appealed to ignorance, but he had real power. The ignorant followed him, and that led to the wanton murder of thousands of innocent people. Ignorance kills. It's not a true American value, and it's not patriotic."
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