The Charlie Daniels Band - In America

The strength of America is not in Washington, D.C., It's in our people, it's on the farms, in the factories. It's the people out here that make this country work. The truck drivers, the farmers. And these people, that's what they were, and I just felt like if you want to go to war, let me take some of these guys with me. Go lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and you're gonna find out what American anger is, because it's the kind of people they are.

- Charlie Daniels

What's old is new again, but in a new way.  Charlie Daniels recorded this song in 1980, during the height (depth?) of Jimmy Carter's "malaise".  It was a song of hope and confidence in the midst of internal dissension following Watergate, a second oil shock, and the Iranian hostage crisis.  Interestingly, while it did well on the Billboard Country chart (rising to #13), it did even better on the Billboard Hot 100 (hitting #11).

It made a second appearance two decades later, in the months after 9/11 when this video was released and the quote at the top of this post was published.  Repurposed in a new time and under new circumstances, but still singing about hope and confidence.

The last decade has seen stagnation for much of the country, and an aggressive exercising of centralized power from an increasingly imperial Washington, DC.  For much of the country, this has been a very real malaise of declining incomes, increasing taxes, and reduced freedom.  But what's old is new again, once again repurposed in a new time with different circumstances, but still singing hope and confidence.

Next week is Independence Day, the first in quite a while where I begin to hope for increased independence from an Imperial Washington DC.  There's a long way to go on this, but I'm beginning to get a little confidence.

In America (Songwriters: Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, Taz DiGregorio, Fred Edwards, James W. Marshall, Charles Hayward):

Well the eagle's been flyin' slow
And the flag's been flyin' low
And a lot of people sayin' that America's fixin' to fall
Well speakin' just for me
And some people from Tennessee
We've got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled
But she ain't never fell
And if the Russians don't believe that
They can all go straight to hell
We're gonna put her feet back
On the path of righteousness and then
God bless America again

And you never did think
That it ever would happen again (In America, did you?)
You never did think
That we'd ever get together again
(We damn sure fooled you)
Yeah, we're walkin' real proud
And we're talkin' real loud again (In America)
You never did think
That it ever would happen again
From The Sound up in Long Island
Out to San Francisco Bay
And everything that's in between them is our own
And we may have done a little bit
Of fightin' amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
'Cause we'll all stick together
And you can take that to the bank
That's the cowboys and the hippies
And the rebels and the yanks
You just go and lay your hand
On a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan
And I think you're gonna finally understand

And you never did think
That it ever would happen again (In America, did you?)
You never did think
That we'd ever get together again
(We damn sure fooled you)
Yeah, we're walkin' real proud
And we're talkin' real loud again (In America)
You never did think
That it ever would happen again
[Instrumental]

And you never did think
That it ever would happen again (In America, did you?)
You never did think
That we'd ever get together again
(We damn sure fooled you)
Yeah, we're walkin' real proud
And we're talkin' real loud again (In America)
You never did think
That it ever would happen again

Bootnote: This was a great album, and the other hit single from it has been featured here before.