what music identifies "american-ness"?

So I’m reading Nodwick by Aaron Williams and on his little blog he brings up a point that made me go “huh?”
And I quote from his site:
(talking about a scene from the series “Heroes”)

So I thought I’d bring this up. What music is used by movies/shows filmed outside of the US to indicate “american-ness”? Anyone?

Bluegrass. Dixieland jazz. Steel guitar (for desert shots).

Watch TV ads that are trying to evoke “American-ness” and you’ll have your answer.

Right now, the first thing that comes to mind is the Chevy ad with Mr. Small Town singing “This is Our Country”…

Aaron Copland’s “Rodeo.”

Freebird! :smiley:

Doesn’t hold, cause that’s an American trying to sell to Americans. I’m talking about NON Americans applying a music of one sort or another to audibly “show” this is in the US.

Ah - well, then: let’s hear from our International Dopers™…

Any of the musical genres in the movie The Blues Brothers, plus (these days) rap: they all originated in the US.

Interesting question. When you want to establish that you’re in France, you play accordion music. In Germany you have tubas playing oompah music. In England you just play “Rule Britannia”. In China or Japan you play flutes and gongs. In India you hear sitar.

Hmph. Between this and the Jerry Lewis worship, you’ve got to wonder how France got its reputation for sophistication. :wink:

Yeah, it’s hard to be objective… I attribute different music to different parts of the country.
I do remember a long lost episode of “A bit of Frye and Laurie” that featured a song called “Kickin’ Ass.” I’m guessing a lot of people around the world would choose that one if there was a vote.

Anything by Souza

There’s this music-song - I believe is called “Banjos that Duel”? That’s America!
…but seriously, I think it depends. Urban Amwerica is usually signalled by Hip-Hop nowadays, everything else is Country.

In most cases, it’s done with visual rather than musical cliches (Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, cactus-filled desert, etc.) Musical choices are also a bit more location-specific: bluegrass, sure, if you’re somewhere rural and (by stereotypical implication) backward. If the scene’s in Los Angeles or Manhattan, bland inoffensive rap is called for. New Orleans certainly gets jazz, and until CSI got popular you’d probably still have gotten away with Sinatra for Vegas. And so on.

One song: The Ashoken Farewell.

For me it is the saxaphone in Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street.
Or the part in U2’s Bullet The Sky where the lyric says “outside it’s America”.

Aaaand YouTube delivers once again.

Steve Miller’s “Livin’ in the USA” would be a good choice.

Anything played from very loud speakers mounted on a tank.

Just hire John Williams to do the score. He’ll fit them all in somewhere.