Lee Greenwood adores a certain idea of America, this country where the country singer feels free and happy, under the lucky stars of its flag. He celebrates in his songs this patriotic love for an Epinal image. To the point that the most famous of them, God Bless the USA, has become the soundtrack of the Republican Party for several decades. This song idealizes a country where life is good, “from the lakes of Minnesota/to the hills of Tennessee”.
Donald Trump, who won the American presidential election this Wednesday, November 6, broadcast at each meeting of his electoral campaign God Bless the USA. The country singer on Tuesday encouraged his fans to vote for the Republican candidate. A few hours after the announcement of the results, he enthused about X in all capital letters, like his champion: “GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
Christian devotion
Born in 1942 in California, Lee Greenwood joined a church choir at the age of 7. At just 20 years old, he founded his first group, The Apollos, and toured the casinos of Las Vegas. A signing with a first label, records and a few food jobs later, his career really took off. He signed a contract with the prestigious MCA label in the early 1980s, and subsequently released several successful albums in which he exalted his conservative values.
A fervent Republican, he praised America and sang bitter elegies on marriage. (Ring on Her Finger, Time on Her Hands, It Turns Me Inside Out) and testifies to his Christian devotion in songs with apocalyptic tunes (The Battle Hymn of the Republic).
In a “charitable” spirit, Lee Greenwood decides to publish a bible of his own in 2021, to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The work, which displays the star-spangled banner on the cover, contains a handwritten extract from his song God Bless USA, enough to help you hum the hymn between two prayers. Sold at $60, it is the only Bible approved by Donald Trump, assures the website that markets it. A special edition was even produced in honor of the failed attack against the former Republican candidate and is entitled, quite simply: “The day God intervened.” For $1,000, it’s even possible to have a Bible signed by Trump’s hand.
Republican mascot
Its main success remains all the same God Bless the USA, that he says he has “written at the back of a bus during his tour” and which appeared in 1984. The song was certified platinum (sold more than a million copies) and reached seventh place on the Billboard ranking of the country’s most listened to country music upon its release. A few years later, she moved him into the world of politics.
The single was chosen to liven up the Republican National Convention in 1988, and accompanied Ronald Reagan’s speech. The event made Lee Greenwood the conservatives’ mascot. His music accompanied the rallies of Republican candidate George HW Bush the same year, then was broadcast to galvanize soldiers heading for the first Gulf War in 1991.
Bless everyone
For ten years, it has been Donald Trump’s turn to take the title God Bless the USA, which he broadcasts during all his meetings. “I had no idea, forty years ago, that my song would play a key role in such a historic presidential campaign. To President Trump and his millions of supporters, thank you!” rejoiced Lee Greenwood on Tuesday on his social networks.
The ardent defender of the ideas of the Republican candidate – in a YouTube podcast, he deplored a few months ago the fact that“no government [américain] never closed the borders to China, to Iran, to the terrorist organizations of Mexico” – even accompanied the latter on campaign trips, despite his 82 years, to perform his song himself.
Like Trump, the great patriot is also a businessman. As British comedian John Oliver recalled in his show on HBO a week ago, Lee Greenwood released a single in 1989 called… God Bless You Canada. The lyrics of the song are almost identical, with one exception: this time he celebrates «Montréal» et «Winnipeg». If the patriot defends his country, money has no borders.
