What Does Patriotism Sound Like?

What Does Patriotism Sound Like?

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
~ Thomas Paine ~


We recently released a CD of patriotic music. While promoting it we made the acquaintance of an excellent blogger and radio host out in sunny California named Kender. After getting to know him and respect him I offered to do some spots for his radio show.

In our emailing back and forth on the subject I was struck by this, referring to the intro spots: he asked that they be patriotic. Of course our CD is patriotic in nature and perhaps he assumed that’s what we would do. But I was still left with the question –

What does patriotism sound like?

My saucy wife and I met playing in a worship band for a stodgy, old time denomination who wished desperately to gain new tithers without reaching out to them in any meaningful way (but that’s a post for another day). I had been a Christian for a couple of years at this point, but had spent a lot more time wishing to be a dissolute, bad-ass musician. The fact that I was never really all that dissolute is not terribly germane to this post.

This point was made several times in my presence -- due to the fact that I am a drummer, people tend to talk in front of me as though I were furniture -- that some piece of music or another didn’t sound “Christian.” I would usually clear my throat, startling everyone in the room and ask what “Christian” sounds like.

Eyes would roll and knowing glances would be exchanged at this ludicrous question from the percussionist proudly clad in his favorite Rush concert T-shirt. I mean everybody knows what “it” is, right?

Actually, having come to believe outside of the traditional church structures forced me to ask a lot of questions that no one comfortable in that world enjoyed answering. But, for me, this was a big one. How was I, a guy weaned on Heavy Metal music, supposed to know what “Christian” sounded like. I could barely figure out what “Christian” looked like! Remember the “Rush” T-shirt!

So, in much the same fashion, I am now puzzled by the reaction to our CD. We made every effort to do a variety of music. Music that sounded American to our ears, music from all over this great land. Yet people have questioned whether or not it sounds patriotic.

So I ask again. What does Patriotism sound like?

I think patriotism must be defined by every generation. Patriotism may look and sound different for each successive generation but, that doesn’t mean it isn’t right or true. Though I am just as likely to listen to AC/DC as country music, I do get choked up when I listen to our National Anthem or God Bless America. I probably didn’t in many ways, before I got all old and staid, look much like a patriotic American, and yet I truly was at all points very patriotic.

I think patriotism isn’t found in a certain style of dress or expression. As much as I love big band music it doesn’t speak to my heart as the music of my youth does, never will.

There’s one other thing I want to address in this post. Embarassment. Why are otherwise proud Americans ashamed of their patriotic feelings? This has been one of the most surprising developments to us in the release of our CD. People have knocked the music, and that’s fine -- we’re adults, and we knew that not everyone would dig it. Of course it hurts, but that’s life in the bigs.

But for otherwise proud Americans to mock something because it’s patriotic is more than a little surprising to me. There’s a lot of patriotic music I don’t care for, but I appreciate that people are standing up and proclaiming their love of this country. I appreciate it because, unlike our brave liberal friends who insist they are under attack by the evil country of AmeriKKKa as they’re feted by the New York Times, us patriotic folk have to sneak around the fringes, hiding in the patriotic ghettos.

What are the patriotic ghettos? Well, ask yourself this: on which days of the year are you most likely to hear a Lee Greenwood song? How often would you put on a CD by a patriotic artist that wasn’t purchased from the Country section of the music store? What, you say there aren’t any patriotic artists outside the Country bins…well, I’ll be.

The fight for the protection of American values is not only the duty of the
military; it is the patriotic duty of all of us.
Michael F. Easley

So, what does patriotism sound like? I would submit that patriotism sounds exactly like us. Like Americans always have: defiant, proud, caring, worthy. Let’s seek out patriotic music, believe it or not there are great artists out there who believe things other than America sucks, or America is the great evil, or even, semi-nude teen-aged girls are the source of all goodness.

Let’s remember that big media is always surprised by the conservative values of Americans. Big media lives in big, blue towns and will never advance something outside of its belief system without having it shoved down their narrow necks. Might I remind you of what amazement big media evinced over the wild success of “The Passion Of The Christ”? And please allow me to predict the same amazement in advance for "The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe".

We cannot allow big media to decide who we should be listening to; this is a dangerous thing these days. I guarantee to you they do not have your best interests at heart. They are selling an agenda. Other than country artists, who in the mainstream stood up for our president?

Yet we have an enormous power as conservatives. The power to say no, the power to deny profits to the big media companies who continually deliver filth and garbage into the in-boxes of our lives. Just as TV and print news are taking it on the chin from blogs, so we need to create a subversive outlet for musicians who love this country.

Don, the guitarist on our album, had some friends over about a week after we finished the project. While chatting he showed them the album and inserted it into the player. Their response? “Why would you make a patriotic album?”

If you know the answer to that question, please allow me to challenge you. No longer accept the predigested crap pouring out from our entertainment capitals. No longer allow them access to your heart or you mind. No longer allow them to think they speak for America because they truly do not.

What does patriotism sound like?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our
freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
~Abraham Lincoln

The fight for the protection of American values is not only the duty of the
military; it is the patriotic duty of all of us.
Michael F. Easley

I see fewer flags flying these days, and the patriotic flame that burned so
brightly after Sept. 11 also seems on the wane.
David Hackworth

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