May 28, 2004

Lee Greenwood deconstructed
posted by i feel unusual 20 years ago
  • This strikes me as a bit of a reach. I think of myself as being as jingo-sensitive as just about anybody, but Hough's line-by-line analysis seems to be looking for something, rather than attempting objective analysis. Of particular note to me are his analyses of "where at least I know I'm free" and "and I won't forget the men who died..." He seems to be jumping at any opportunity to call the man an outdated conservative. And, full disclosure, I'm a liberal, and I think the song sucks anyway. I didn't care at all for Toby Keith's post-911 anthem either -- that one strikes me as particularly troublesome. This one is looking through more of a generic Saturday Evening Post-style lens.
  • Ironically the same people who slurp up these lyrics of honor and freedom are the first ones to discard them when the need arises.
  • Sorry, I'm probably being a little jaded... I just want to see these songs open minds, not just hearts.
  • To add to middleclasstool (who appears to be anything but), this "deconstruction" jumps with undue Marxist alacrity to the assumption that Greenwood's freedom is economic freedom, which seems mistaken. A true deconstructionist in the tradition of Derrida would seize on the linguistic implications of that freedom, and proceed from there.
  • I noticed thing same thing (minus the Derridean part) -- how he managed to categorize the freedom as purely economic is beyond me.
  • do NOT sing this song. Love it or hate it it will be in your freakin head all freakin' day!! AAaaiighh! Antidote! Antidote! *guzzles vodka, plays Marvin Gaye*
  • I love this song. It is like "all out of love" by air supply or that song by huey lewis and gweneth paltrow. straight cheese. In addition, it a string of cliches that is backed by a smaltz theme which kicks in at the right litefm moments. In a country that has radio stations designed to play this kind of thing all day at work, piping in overhead, as you sit in your cubicle, is it any wonder this is a hit? Granted, "The House I Live In" sung by Frank Sinatra and Paul Robeson, among others, would be a much better choice for americans. Perhaps the Dem's should start pumping that at whatever their equilavent to nascar is.