The song is composed and performed by Dennis Madalone, a New Jersey stuntman-cum-singer/songwriter who wants the listener to know that his
“compassion for others inspires him to write lyrics and create melodies…to share his feelings so that it may be a reflective comfort in ‘your’ life.”The message of this single, entitled “America We Stand As One,” is to “carry on, hold on and stay strong for we all are truly one.” Apparently, Madalone’s “we” doesn’t apply to folks born outside our proud city walls. This here song, American brothers and sisters, is for us and us alone.
And this brings me to the video. Rarely do you have a chance to see so many clichés packed into a three-minute clip...unless you’re watching a spoof. The video opens with our blue-collar man, illustrated by his All-American, torn blue-jeans, strolling alone on the beach. Soon Dennis is joined by some twinkly special effects, otherwise known as angels. And, with these divine companions watching his back, Dennis breaks into full-throated, patriotic song.
The lyrics are thoughtless and mundane, belying the claim that Madalone is “truly an artist with power, passion and originality.” Canned passion, I'll grant him, but power and originality are not at all represented.
He stands defiant, holding, alternately, a small stars-and-stripes hanky or a large United States flag, while singing,
“I had to go, but it’s OK, You see I’m with you in a different way…America….USA, We stand as one…and we must carry on.”The homepage claims that “this new rock anthem fills you with hope and comforts you with a spiritual message from our Loved Ones." In fact, I presume that the majority of US citizens under forty years of age (and a great deal of those above) are too savvy to accept “A.W.S.A.O.” as anything other than the hackneyed crap it is. Yet still I find myself becoming worried about the percentage of the populous that will respond to Dennis Madalone’s “sincerity” and “moral integrity.”
This worry may be in part due to the results of a Gallup Poll conducted November 7-10, 2004. When asked, “Which best describes your views of the origin of life?,” the responses were as follows:
Man developed with God guiding, 38%45 percent? Dear God…I think I'll go pump up the volume on Mandalone's "America" and stick my hand in a fu*king blender.
Man developed with no help from God, 13%
God created man in present form, 45%
4 comments:
Whoa. Crazy that this is not a spoof.
And to think that so many people in the US laugh at the religious extremism in the middle east.
Thank god I'm an atheist.
I love how the water in the video is an American flag. talk about tacky. But seriously, hasn't patriotism gotten a little fanatical over the last few years? Ever SUV I see has a flag, or a ribbon on it, and not even a real flag or ribbon, a magnet stick on kind. Not being an American myself, ( I am in the process of becoming a citizen) its hard to understand where all the intense pro America energy is coming from. People blindly support our action overseas while we have a standing army that occupies a country we invaded for no substantial reason. It gets me so mad that being dangerous is a reason to take someone out, while Kim Jong Il is a wicked crazy bastard and noone seems to give a fuck. But ignonrace is bliss. So fuckheads like this douche will keep making I'm gfay for America videos. As if thats going to make the rest of the free world despise us any less. Fuck.
Recon
Yes, the video is terrificly fun, in a vomitous sort of way.
Devo, you should definitely expand on your studies in Ireland. The slippery slope separating patriotism and nationalism is being made very clear on our shores and a thoughtful exploration of the phenomena is welcome.
Your description of Canada is fantastic, by the way!
Recon, you know you really love the magnetic stickers. Don't front.
Devo, it sounds to me like you're enjoying imponderables. That is the most important part of the experience, in my opinion. If an individual doesn't take that step, then how can they appreciate the adventure itself?
Though I do find the notion of a universe "blindly tossing out variations on a theme" very attractive - and probably the closest approximation to a good "explanation" we have - it is certainly incomplete. Humans themselves have evolved to be a certain kind of beast with a certain kind of brain; we can no more understand the universe and the origins of life than can an ant colony, Google or a rock aggregate. Our "need" for cause-and-effect is such a case in point. We demand to know how variable x caused variable y and so on. History, after all, is a linear story.
The universe, many theoretical physicists suggest, doesn't work in this way. What caused the Big Bang, then, may be a wrong-headed question. Then again, it might not be - some physicists argue that two (or more) great "planes" crashed into one another, but then, only human, I have to ask where these planes originated. We will always work our way back to a locked door, one which we can not attribute to some other phenomena. More and more evidence suggests that the universe - though NOT individual solar systems - has no beginning or end.
In the words of Issac Brock, frontman of the band Modest Mouse:
"The universe is shaped exactly like the earth,
if you go straight long enough you end up where you were."
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