Download Instrumental While growing up on a farm in California, country singer Lee Greenwood was taught little nuggets of wisdom like “your handshake is your word” and “you help your neighbor when he needs help”. Sounds a bit old-fashioned now, but it shouldn’t. He could see those basic decencies slipping away and longed to write a song about the America he loved. Lee felt his country embodied the ideas that were good and honorable about all people and the freedom that went along with that. He wrote “God Bless the USA” in 1983 and it became one of the most played patriotic songs of all time.
The first time America heard this tune was halfway through a Lee Greenwood concert in ’83. The crowd went crazy – on their feet and applauding before he even finished the song. He soon had to move it to the end of his concerts as an encore because he felt like he “just couldn’t follow it up with another song”.
Many conservative politicians (why not liberals, you might ask) used “God Bless the USA” in their campaigns, including Reagan, both Bushes, and now at every Trump rally. It was played in ’91 at the beginning of the Iraq war and especially after the twin towers came down in New York. This is a song for the ages – and Lee Greenwood is a rich man today. Only in America….
Watch The Story of “God Bless the USA” below:
Stageworthy Backing Tracks by Dave Zobrist 