The Aftermath of 9/11 in Two Country Songs

 

Justice will be served and the battle will rage

This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage

And you'll be sorry that you messed with

The U.S. of A.

'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass

It's the American way

 

Toby Keith (Courtesy of the Red White and Blue)

 

I'm just a singer of simple songs

I'm not a real political man

I watch CNN, but I'm not sure I can tell you

The diff'rence in Iraq and Iran

But I know Jesus and I talk to God

And I remember this from when I was young

Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us

And the greatest is love

 

Alan Jackson (Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning)

 

***

 

Amanda and I were still newlyweds on 9/11. That morning, I was getting ready for work and she was getting ready for school, when we heard the news. Of course you never forget something like that. 

 

For a while, it seemed as if the event had brought our country together, but in retrospect, I believe it ended up causing far more damage to the fabric of our nation than it should have, in large part because of a divergence in how we viewed ourselves, and other people outside the US. 

 

In fact, I believe that two Country Music songs that came out in the wake of the event are a microcosm of what happened. 

 

Back then, I used to listen to Country a lot more. The 1990s and early 2000s were kind of a golden age of music, and a lot of it has aged quite well. I still have some in my rotation, even though I haven’t really listened to Country radio in a decade and a half. 

 

In 2001, Alan Jackson was kind of winding up his career, although that wasn’t obvious at the time. In fact, “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” ended up being his last really big hit song. I’ve listened to some of his more recent stuff, and it’s actually pretty good. But tastes changed, and his style was no longer popular on the radio, which is a shame. 

 

Toby Keith, on the other hand, had kind of a career renaissance and went on to dominate for another decade. His career makes me a bit sad, though. The early Toby Keith, prior to “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue” consisted of songs that were fun and songs that were thoughtful. Sure, it was Bro Country, but it was fun and harmless Bro country. Stuff like “Should Have Been A Cowboy” and “Dream Walking” but also the excellent duet with Sting, “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying,” which is a great description of being a non-custodial parent after a divorce. 

 

But after 9/11 and his rather nasty ode to jingoism, his career went more to the Toxic Dude Bro side of things. His latest tour was “That’s Country, Bro,” and the name fit. I saw him live in 2000, and it was a good show, but I really wouldn’t see him now, because of the shift. 

 

It isn’t just him, however. Country music as a whole has gone Bro. From the Kinsey Gaffe about “female singers are the tomatoes, but male singers are the whole salad” to the way songs have become inane redneck stereotypes. (Exhibit A: Blake Shelton and “Boys Round Here.” Exhibit B: Frankie Ballard and “It All Started With A Beer.”) Along with this, things became pretty much focus group formulaic - as seen in this classic video:

 

 

It wasn’t just the music, though. The two songs actually showed a cultural divergence that would eventually lead us to Trump and Dude Bros in giant trucks shooting paintballs at protesters, carrying weapons and even murdering people, and a political reaction to a pandemic that doesn’t care about the size of your...er, weapon. 

 

***

 

On the one hand, the Alan Jackson sorts (and I include myself), ended up using 9/11 as an incentive to do some contemplation, some self-examination. Sure, we would need to protect ourselves, but also to take a hard look at our policies. I did support the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, although in retrospect, they were poor policy choices. (And undermined trust in our government a lot.) But the idea that we could solve all the world’s problems by using bigger bombs seemed wrong to me. And so it has turned out. 

 

On the other hand, a significant segment of the US population went the Toby Keith route, and decided we needed more xenophobia, and more hate and violence toward “those people.” The problem was, we didn’t use a big enough boot on their ass. And that’s how you get Trump, with his appeal to “brown skinned people are the threat to us, so we need to kick them out, and light them up to keep us safe.” This, of course, bled over into more than just foreign policy in the Middle East. It is the right-wing approach to all social unrest. The belief is that the problems our world faces is a lack of violence. Kids are “disrespectful” because they weren’t beaten enough. Protesters need to be met with harsh punishment and military action. We need more mass incarceration. Why can’t we just shoot immigrants on sight? And on it goes. Solve the world’s problems through violence. Put a boot in their ass, it’s the American way…

 

Listening to Alan Jackson’s song again, I am struck by just how thoughtful it is, and how his approach to a traumatic event is an example for all of us. And so very Christian too. Faith, Hope, and Love are the three things He taught us...and the greatest is Love. 

 

***

 

So, as I think about the events of 9/11 again, these 19 years and what feels like a lifetime of living, I mourn the divergence between these two songs in our nation, and wonder how things might have gone had we banded together to increase the love in the world, rather than embraced hatred of “the other.”