Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

I remember the celebrations of the bicentenary of the United States in 1976 as a time of easy-going cheer. Maybe it was the feeling that with the chapters of Watergate and Vietnam closed, the USA could breathe out and let the sun in. Certainly, in Europe the USA was respected and, by some, even loved. As the US marks 250 years since independence, that respect and love has disintegrated.

Still, the 250 years anniversary is significant, an opportunity to stop and review all the good and all the bad that the US has brought to the world and to itself. And there are extremes on both ends of the scale.

The tracks on these two volumes of Any Major USA reflect a bit of that. There are songs here that celebrate the USA, but not in the jingoistic ways of a Toby Keith. There are also songs that are critical. Ironically (or maybe not), one of them was released in 1976, coinciding with the bicentenary. Gil Scott-Heron’s Winter In America should be the national anthem of the disaffected.

Volume 1 deliberately kicks off with the often misunderstood Born In The USA, presented here in a live version from 1985. Readers of this little corner of the Internet needn’t be told that the song isn’t a flag-waving nationalism-rouser but an angry lament for the betrayal of Americans by America. But could you blame the Reagans of the world for thinking it was a patriotic number when the cover of the album by the same name featured Bruce being cool in front of the Stars and Stripes?

And since we are nothing if not a balanced blog, we’ll follow Springsteen’s cri de coeur with James Brown’s 1980s bombast patriotism which namechecked a bunch of US cities. Let’s say that Brown’s politics were complicated. Other songs roll-call cities as well, most gloriously perhaps in Martha & The Vandella’s Dancing In The Streets.

As far as flags go, the Stars and Stripes is a work of design genius.

The playlist sequence throws up nice contrasts: at one point we have Jay & The Americans cheerfully push the narrative of the USA as the land of opportunities, the next MC5 call bullshit on that idea. For all those who believe that the USA is a paradise, there are many who think the US is run by parasites.

A couple of songs are from the outside looking in. The Clash obviously are not filled with admiration, and Supertramp, in their often misunderstood song, satirise an idealised American culture, issuing clichés of the American Dream as it mocks the British fascination with America.

So here’s the USA, the bitter and the sweet. Volume 2 will follow next week.

The American Road Trip series of mixes might make for a good companion during this time of commemoration. Posted ten years ago, it was a coast-to-coast-and-back journey in songs through many US cities in an imaginary itinerary over seven volumes. Every song was about the city or town visited.

As always, this mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-starspangledbannred covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Born In The U.S.A. (live) (1985)
2. James Brown – Living In America (1985)
3. Sister Sledge – All American Girls (1981)
4. Supertramp – Breakfast In America (1979)
5. Talking Heads – The Big Country (1978)
6. Los Lobos – One Time, One Night (1987)
7. The Impressions – This Is My Country (1968)
8. Swamp Dogg – God Bless America For What (1971)
9. Gil Scott-Heron – Winter In America (1976)
10. Z.Z. Hill – Clean Up America (1974)
11. Zulema – Hail, Hail America (1972)
12. Martha & The Vandellas – Dancing In The Street (1964)
13. The Beach Boys – Surfin’ U.S.A. (1963)
14. Chuck Berry – Promised Land (1964)
15. Trini Lopez – A-me-ri-ca (1962)
16. Jay & The Americans – Only In America (1963)
17. MC5 – The American Ruse (1970)
18. The Clash – I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. (1977)
19. John Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (1985)
20. Willie Nelson – Living In The Promiseland (1986)
21. Woody Guthrie – This Land Is Your Land (1940)
22. Elvis Presley – An American Trilogy (1972)

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