“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”
September 11th, 2001 is a day America will never forget. September 11th, 2001 is a day I will never forget. I remember waking up that morning to my mom telling me to come downstairs and take a look at what the news was saying and showing. I remember walking down the stairs, staring at the TV in absolute shock. I tried to call our extended family in New York, but the phone lines were busy for hours. Worry and wonder had then joined my pool of emotions that somber day. In the days following 9/11, I was able to reach my family members by phone and was overjoyed to hear they were okay. Although hearing some of the stories gave me the chills. Hearing about how my cousin’s grandfather had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in order to get out of New York City that day was unimaginable. Hearing about a friend of the family who worked on the 102nd floor of one of the buildings never missed a day of work, but her friend talked her into playing hooky that day was unbelievable. And hearing of my cousin’s aunt dying in the World Trade Center was heartbreaking.
I traveled to New York twice in 2001; once in November and then again in December. Both times I went to ground zero and saw the devastation. The streets were still filled with debris and ash. The air smelled of smoke and death. Ground zero itself was enclosed by fencing which was covered with pictures of people’s loved ones, missing person posters, candles, teddy bears, firefighter helmets and all other sorts of personal mementos. It was one of the saddest sights I had ever seen. I remember looking up and imagining standing on those streets that infamous day and all I could feel was disbelief and fear. I could not believe something like this could take place in our country, on American soil. I could not understand why or who would want to cause such destruction and suffering.
Toby Keith, an American country music singer was inspired by the events of September 11th and his father’s death in March of 2001 to write the song, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” In November 2003, Toby Keith told CBS in an interview that his dad was a veteran who taught him how important our freedom is, which is stated in the song as, “…my daddy served in the army where he lost his right eye, but he flew a flag out in our yard 'til the day that he died. He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me to grow up and live happy in the land of the free…” (Cowboy Lyrics) Because of these values he was taught by his dad, the attacks of 9/11 made him very angry and he used the words of this song to get that across. This song about his father’s patriotism and faith is the USA only took him 20 minutes to write. At first he only sang this song live in front of military personnel until the Commandant of the Marine Corps, James L. Jones, told Toby Keith it was his duty as an American citizen to record the song and continue to entertain and lift the morale of the troops.
In the second verse of the song, “Now this nation that I love is fallin' under attack, a mighty sucker-punch came flying in from somewhere in the back. Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye, man, we lit up your world like the fourth of July.” (Cowboy Lyrics) I see these words directly related to the terrorist attacks that happened on 9/11. As he is singing about a mighty sucker-punch that came flying in from somewhere in the back, this is in reference to the attack by the planes at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. When I hear these words, I am filled with such powerful emotions. I am filled with emotion that makes me want to shout from the roof tops saying, “Hell yeah!” I feel like outsiders came into America and did such unimaginable damage, caused such a huge loss of life and created such a sense of fear that here in this verse, we are saying as Americans, we will not stand for that and we will fight back!
The chorus is a very powerful verse in my opinion too. It goes like this, “Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list, and the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist, and the eagle will fly and it's gonna be hell, when you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell. And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you. Ah, brought to you, courtesy of the red, white and blue.” (Cowboy Lyrics) I love the way Toby Keith uses symbolism in this verse. Uncle Sam putting a name at the top of his list, I think Osama Bin Laden is at the top of that list. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of the United States, and in this verse, you hear that she is angry at what is taking place in her country. The eagle flying to give hell, I see as the military flying in to protect and fight for America. Mother Freedom ringing her bell is symbolizing the Liberty Bell, which is also a symbol for the United States. In saying, “brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue” is a great way to wrap up the verse by saying the United States of America is fighting back and standing up to terrorism.
The third verse of the song is I believe where you can feel a lot of Toby Keith’s anger and certainty about America and how we will fight back as a country and what that means. The words state, “Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage: This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage. An' you'll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. 'Cos we'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way.” (Cowboy Lyrics) I would have to say that at a Toby Keith concert, when this verse is being sung, it gets the most shouts and claps. I think there is just so much passion behind the words. I think the events of September 11th caused a lot of anger in a lot of people and music is a great way to deal with that anger. In fact, music can deal with all kinds of emotions, not just anger. That is why I think this song is so powerful for so many people.
When I personally hear the song, I can honestly say I have never felt so patriotic! The song represents so many things to me. It represents freedom and what that means to this country. It represents how we will stand up and fight anyone who makes an attack on American soil and that we will not just lay down. It also represents how we stand behind and support our troops. As the song says in the first verse, “American girls and American guys, will always stand up and salute. We'll always recognize, when we see ol' glory flying, there's a lot of men dead, so we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our heads.” (Cowboy Lyrics) This verse above all else tells us what our American soldiers do for us. Regardless if you support war or not, you should support your soldiers and recognize all the work they do to make this country safe and how they can and will fight for our freedom.
Hearing this song it always give me goose bumps, fills me with passion, and even on occasion can bring a tear to my eye. I think I have a sense of closeness to this song not only because of the patriotism behind it, but also because of the reason it was written. For everyone in the country, September 11th was a tragic and terribly sad day. For me, it was hard to believe it even happened; but when I saw ground zero, when I saw the devastation, when I smelt the death in the air, when I felt the sadness all around, and when I heard the many stories of friends of the family it made it so real for me. It really hit a place in my heart where I will always carry it around and think of all those people. I will never forget what I saw and that was a month and two months after the fact. I can only imagine the horror those people felt when this attack took place. So in hearing and seeing Toby Keith in concert singing “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” with all the military in the audience on stage with him, I cannot help but be filled with all these emotions. I cannot help but feel patriotic, to feel so blessed to live in this land of the free where our military works so hard to fight to protect us, and I cannot help but just love this song.
Toby Keith had a public feud with the lead singer from another country music group, the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines. Natalie Maines thought this song was very ignorant and made country music sound ignorant. I strongly disagree with Miss Maines. I think this song is very patriotic and shows how Americans will fight against terrorism. I also think this song is a great way to release emotion, as many songs are great for, and a great way to support our American soldiers. I admire Toby Keith for writing this song and standing behind it, even when some think it may be “too patriotic” or “too politically incorrect.” (CMT) What else can I say except this song makes me proud to be an American!
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