# Anti-American songs used as Pro-American slogans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2002, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252 "2002-10-14T16:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/1 "2002-10-14T16:42:19Z")
I was re-watching Austin Powers 2 the other day, and it featured Lenny Kravitz covering the Guess Who’s “American Woman” during a scene to show how hot the female american character was. Did they miss the point of the song, or were they just hoping that the audiance would only remember the first two words in the lyrics? I’m sure there are more examples of this too, in marketing and movies. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/2 "2002-10-14T17:12:52Z")
I can’t believe you didn’t mention _Born In The U.S.A._ by Springsteen. Though not anti-US, (at least not along the lines of I Hate The USA kind of thing) it was grabbed by the Republicans during the 1984 Presidential campaign and held up as a “shining example of everything that is good and right about America.”:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:. George Will devoted an entire opinion column to it in which he utterly and completely misinterpreted the song. I t was laughable how wrong he was. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Improved\_Scott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f17d59/32.png) [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/3 "2002-10-14T17:26:04Z")
Well, during the 1984 Presidential campaign, I was 6 years old… ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/4 "2002-10-14T17:28:04Z")
A large jeans company - I think it was Wrangler - committed this type of error a few years ago with a commercial that featured just one line of CCR’s “Fortunate Son”. The commercial played the line “Some folks are born, made to raise the flag/ Ooh, they’re red white and blue!” The rest of the ad’s music was instrumental, so you didn’t hear the follow-up lines indicating that the song considered all of that flag-raising to be a _bad_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![Payne\_N.Diaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Payne\_N.Diaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payne_N.Diaz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/5 "2002-10-14T18:18:24Z")
Don’t forget the original anti-American song, “Yankee Doodle.” The Redcoats sang it to mock the colonists, but it has become a classic American folk song. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/6 "2002-10-14T18:21:59Z")
**N&I Scott** you are asking/talking about situations where someone pro-American uses an anti-American song, oblivious to the fact that the lyrics to the song are, well, anti-American. The key word here is _oblivious_. The fact that the person using the song either doesn’t get it, hasn’t listened closely or is trying to “put one over on” the listener is what rings so false. But what about **Yankee Doodle**? The lyrics are anti-American - the Brits made up the words to describe Yanks as un-refined and clueless: Yankee Doodle when to London just to ride a pony Stuck a feather in his cap (i.e., put on fancy airs - tried to look stylish in the way of the day) and called it “macaroni” (at the time, a word used to mean really cool/fancy Italian; here, the Brits are saying that Yankee Doodle thinks he’s cool but he’s really white trash) Yankee Doodle keep it up Yankee Doodle dandy Mind your manners, watch your step and with the girls be handy (basically the Brits giving condescending encouragement to YD whom they hold in contempt) However, in this case, the Yanks took the song, which they _knew_ to be condescending and adopted it as a fight song to rub the Brits faces in it… Doesn’t quite fit in the category you are looking for, but worth mentioning within this context. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/7 "2002-10-14T18:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Payne N. Diaz \* > \*\*Don’t forget the original anti-American song, “Yankee Doodle.” > The Redcoats sang it to mock the colonists, but it has become a classic American folk song. \*\* Okay **Payne** you beat me on the simul-post (someone had to mention it - right?), but at least I offered more background!! ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/8 "2002-10-14T18:31:22Z")
**Mystery Dog** , I saw the Wrangler “Fortunate Son” commercial twice this weekend. As you noted the “it ain’t me” chorus is conspicuously absent. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/9 "2002-10-14T20:40:36Z")
Didn’t someone use John Mellencamp’s _Little Pink Houses_ as a campaign song? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/10 "2002-10-14T20:45:47Z")
Not anti-American, but it fits the general category: I find it enormously funny that automaker Jaguar is using the Clash’s “London Calling” in their commercials. Oh, and there was a hue and cry several years ago when Nike employed the Beatles’ “Revolution” in their campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2002, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/11 "2002-10-14T23:00:00Z")
It wasn’t _Born in the USA_ that Reagan wanted to use, it was _Pink Houses_. Mellencamp refused. I think it’s funny that people laughed at Reagan then, saying that he obviously hadn’t listened to the lyrics, and that the song was supposed to be a criticism of the U.S. (which it was). Then, Mellencamp himself sang it as a pro-US anthem at the concert for New York City. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/12 "2002-10-15T12:38:30Z")
Also not necessarily anti-American, during a concert in Wembly stadium for a newly free Nelson Mandela, Neil Young played “Keep on Rocking in the Free World”. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/13 "2002-10-15T13:25:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mystery Dog \* > \*\*A large jeans company - I think it was Wrangler - committed this type of error a few years ago with a commercial that featured just one line of CCR’s “Fortunate Son”. The commercial played the line “Some folks are born, made to raise the flag/ Ooh, they’re red white and blue!” The rest of the ad’s music was instrumental, so you didn’t hear the follow-up lines indicating that the song considered all of that flag-raising to be a _bad_ thing. \*\* A few years ago? Hehe. I think this is airing currently. I laugh my ass off every time I see this commercial. I have nothing against patriotic songs, but jesus, this has to be the stupidest commercial I’ve ever seen. Also, I think the point of the song was not about flag-raising, but about the privileged class avoiding the vietnam war. I do find it very sad that such a great Vietnam protest song is now presented as a patriotic anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/14 "2002-10-15T13:30:45Z")
I don’t know if this counts as anti-American, but _The Star Spangled Banner_ is about a battle that we lost, but “at least the flag’s still flying, so nyah.” ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/15 "2002-10-15T23:07:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > **It wasn’t _Born in the USA_ that Reagan wanted to use, it was _Pink Houses_. Mellencamp refused.** It was, in fact, _Born in the USA_. And Reagan didn’t _try_ to use it, he did use it on at least one occasion. Bruce then came out against Reagan’s use of the song, and Reagan dropped the song. [Cite](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/260839.stm) (third and fourth paragraph), [cite](http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=68) (fourth paragraph), and [cite](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/campaignsongs_000816.html) (fourteenth paragraph). Reagan also wanted to use Mellencamp’s _Pink Houses_ as you mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/16 "2002-10-15T23:47:55Z")
A funny footnote to the whole Reagan/Born In The USA thing, they interviewed Ron Reagan (Ron’s son) about it and Ron said, "_My dad wouldn’t know Bruce Springsteen from Cab Calloway…_ Trust me I was ROTF, when I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/17 "2002-10-16T00:16:49Z")
I think I heard _Monster_ by Steppenwolf used once. Don’t remember what it was for. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/18 "2002-10-16T00:58:29Z")
Several winter olympics ago, in the 80’s, ABC used _American Woman_ kind of as Bonnie Blair’s theme song. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/19 "2002-10-16T05:58:43Z")
There’s an article in the new Onion book titled “Song about heroin used to promote investment firm”. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252/20 "2002-10-16T06:02:41Z")
I remember _Little Pink Houses_ was used by one of the TV networks as the theme song for their coverage of the Superbowl (1986?). It was pretty obvious from the graphics they used that they missed the point of the song completely. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-american-songs-used-as-pro-american-slogans/132252.md?page=2)