Bob Dylan’s song uses lyrics about to the divine in his song ‘With god on its side’. The title is also the main hook of the song as well demonstrating the importance of god and the divine. The use of a main hook line and title with the lyrics ‘God Bless the U.S.A’ is used by Greenwood in his song with equal importance. Both songs appeal to patriotism and the divine however the difference is that Dylan’s lyrics are satirical and don’t necessarily mean what they say directly. Greenwood’s language is not satirical and the listener has the feeling that the situations he talks about are positive and something to thank god for. Therefore the ending of the song and the use of the divine as something patriotic can be as negative or positive depending on the song that you listen to. Both the songs have also been used by different sides of politics and for different purposes. Bob Dylan’s is a protest song written in the midst of an unfavourable and unjustifiable war in Vietnam while Greenwood’s was written after the September 11 attacks a war that was mostly seen as justifiable directly after the attacks. It was even used by the Republicans Sarah Palin and Ronald Regan as a song to support their campaigns.
There are obvious differences in the lyrical content and musical language. Dylan’s song is mostly satirical and he attempts to use the hook as a way of showing the negative side of believing that god is on the side of the victor of war. He supports this hook by backing up his statement with other lyrics that may seem patriotic or justifying war because the listener has been told this in history books and schools. Lyrics like ‘oh the history books tell it’, ‘I’s made to memorise’ demonstrate this. He also uses words used often in books, films and in the newspaper that are patriotic and war like. For example ‘the cavalry charged’, ‘its them we must fight’ ‘if fire them we’re forced to’. As the song continues it seems that every paragraph uses words that may be heard as being darker or taboo like ‘hate’, ‘fear’, ‘murdered ‘and ‘died’. The hook is usually used after negative words and terrible historical events. This includes like the First and Second world war or the mentioning of weapons and enemies like ‘the Russians’ (a reference to the cold war) and ‘But now we got weapons of the chemical dust’ This builds slowly through the song until the end where all patriotism and thoughts of ‘god on its side’ can no longer be taken seriously. The use of irony is one of Bob Dylan’s best weapons as a protest singer.
The use of the Divine is heard as something to raise the spirits and to be thankful for in Greenwood’s song. Greenwood supports his main hook ‘God bless the U.S.A’ by being thankful for historical events and situations that Dylan may have seen in a different light. For example Greenwood uses the lyrics ‘And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me’ and uses language that would make the listener grateful such as ‘And I’m proud to be an American’ and ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land’ and ‘Where at least I know I’m free’. He also uses words and situations that are that are dark sparingly like ‘died’ but words such as ‘love’ ‘lucky’ ‘bless’ more frequently. Dylan however would not use such lyrics in the same way because his would be more ironic. Greenwood uses situations and events that make the listener proud and thankful for the divine such as
And New York to L.A
Well there’s pride in every American Heart,
And its time we stand and say (Greenwood)
The song builds until the end of the song we are ‘proud’ ‘blessed’ ‘free’ and ‘lucky’. Therefore ‘God Bless the U.S.A is indeed justified because of the beauty and its freedom.
Works Cited
Dylan, B “With God on Our Side”. The Times They Are A- Changing, Columbia, 1964. Vinyl.
Greenwood, L “God Bless the U.S.A”. You’ve Got a Good Love Comin, MCA Nashville, 2001. CD.
