I had a little wake up call the other day. Byron and I were riding in the car and the recent Toby Keith song came on the radio, “Made in America”. I have heard this numerous times throughout the summer and decided to express my irritation about it to Byron. I pointed out that it seems all of Toby Keith’s songs are corny and about “American stuff” all the time now. Typically, when I express my opinion about music Byron and I agree. I was shocked with his response, he brought up the point that as corny as it may be, he is overseas constantly seeing these troops first hand and hearing their stories. It has been ten years since the tragedy on 9/11 and that has given us ten years to become de-sensitized again. Yes, my husband is in the Coast Guard, so obviously we can relate more to songs and statements about the military. However, even I did not take the time to listen to the words of this song and think about how much we as Americans would be effected if we all felt the same way. The words to this song are powerful, and may have been spoken or sung a million times (particularly in the short time following 9/11) but we still do not choose to listen….
Made in America Lyrics
spent his life livin' off the land,
dirty hands, and a clean soul.
breaks his heart seein' foreign cars,
filled with fuel that isn't ours
and wearin' cotton he didn't grow
he's got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm
semper fi tattooed on his left arm
spends a little more at the store for a tag in the back that says u.s.a.
won't buy nothin' that he can't fix,
with wd40 and a craftsman wrench
he ain't prejudice he's just, made in America
his wife, she's that wife that decorates on the 4th of july
but says "every day's independence day"
she's golden rule, teaches school,
some folks say it isn't cool but she says the pledge of allegiance anyway.
got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm
semper fi tattooed on his left arm
spends a little more at the store for a tag in the back that says u.s.a.
won't buy nothin' that he can't fix,
with wd40 and a craftsman wrench
he ain't prejudice he's just, made in America
born in the heartland, raised up a family
of king james and uncle saml
got the red, white, and blue flyin' high on the farm
semper fi tattooed on his left arm
spends a little more at the store for a tag in the back that says u.s.a.
won't buy nothin' that he can't fix,
with wd40 and a craftsman wrench
he ain't prejudice he's just, made in America
made in America
made in America
my old man's that old man,
he's made in America
America!
It does seem pretty crazy that we do not pay any attention to the fact that we depend so heavily on foreign products, particularly when we have such a poor employment rate in this country. Can you imagine the change that would happen in this country if we turned things around and started paying attention? We should buy, use and sell American products. We should remember how fortunate we are to be born into this country. I am among many Americans that get chills when I hear the old classic songs like the great Alabama hit “Proud to be an American”. Unfortunately I am in the same majority that does not pay attention to what I can do to protect this country. It is not just up to the politicians and military. I am pretty sure we as citizens can have a pretty huge impact if we would just open up our eyes and see how we can help. God bless America.
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