How was patriotism, influenced by terrorism, expressed in country songs?
1. Introduction
The United States of America has been a target for many terror attacks, which aimed to intimidate the country’s society and government, to affect the religious, political and ideological beliefs and to destroy the freedom, equality, democracy and other values that were important for the nation’s community.
Throughout the history of the United States, approximately three thousand incidents that happened in the country have a terror background. Almost every resulted in an injury or death of innocent people.
An event that is said to be the world’s worst terror act is a series of attacks committed on September 11th, 2001. Four airline aircrafts were hijacked and used for the suicide attacks, and as
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For instance, Toby Keith states that “American Girls and American Guys; We’ll always stand up and salute”. This expression highlights the character of the society – always ready to support the country, no matter what happens. The repetition – American – suggests the strong bond between the citizens and their homeland. Moreover, an unquestioning value for the people is a devotion for the USA. Aaron Tippin’s lyrics show it in a very straightforward way – “I pledge the allegiance to this flag”. Although it could be hard, to stand up after the horrific attacks, people still have a hope and determination to the further fight for their values. This is a theme in the Hank Williams’ “America Will Survive”. But the support and the respect are not only shown by being proud of own country, it is also about appreciating what made the country look like it looks now. As Darry Worley wrote – “We didn’t get to keep ‘em by backing down”. It strongly suggests that the subject can see the efforts made to achieve an important value of freedom and invulnerability, which are praised throughout the whole