What songs make you feel the most patriotic?

To start it out, but just one of many:

The Ballad of the Green Berets.

Just the kind of song to make you feel like you could take on anything and anyone.

Flower Of Scotland
Scotland The Brave
Loch Lomond (the version by Runrig)

…and just about anything with bagpipes, with the notable exception of “You’re The Voice” by John Farnham.

Incidentally, the English tried to ban the Great Highland Bagpipe by classing it as a “terrible instrument of war” I think because it scared the crap out of them.

Before you all start, I’m happy to accept that, to anyone other than a Scot, it is a fairly painful instrument. :slight_smile:

“America the Beautiful.”

I’m even of the opinion that it should replace “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the USA’s national Anthem.

Het Wilhelmus

Yup, the Dutch national anthem.

“My name is Joe, and I am…”

“Over There”
“The Battle of New Orleans”

The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Go figger.

“I Am a Patriot” by Miami Steve Van Zandt

Jackson Browne does a great version.

It always reminds me that the ideas behind our Great Experiment are much more important and meaningful than the petty political bickering.

American Trilogy - Elvis Presley

(Elvis sings Dixie! Elvis sings the Battle Hymn of the Republic! Elvis brings it all back home with a heart-rending spiritual

cmkeller-

I am with you 100% on America the Beautiful. The idea of making that the national anthem comes up from time to time, and I sure wish it would take hold. The lyrics capture both the physical beauty of the country and the ideals for which we strive. It’s much easier to sing than “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and not so martial.

It’s really embarrassing that the Canadians have a better anthem than we do. :wink:

Iguana Boy-

I can’t think of anything more beautiful than bagpipes well-played. (Of course, I have a bit of Scottish ancestry, so…)

When I was flying back from the Gulf War after a 6 month tour in Saudia Arabia and Iraq, the flight crew on the commercial charter we were on played God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood as soon as we entered U.S. air space.

I have never been filled with the same type of emotion as when that song came over the intercom. There was not a dry eye on the plane. All the frustration and fear that had been repressed came out of me at that time when I realized what my contribution to this country was; how we were being appreciated for what we did (unlike the returning Vets from Vietnam); and that I was about to land back in America.

I cried with joy and release, and had a good long conversation with God thanking Him for the way our presence in the Gulf played out and for bringing my compatriots and me back safely; and praying for the families of those who did not make it (luckily for me, no one I knew personally).

Now, I realize this song was probably overplayed during its radio heyday; but I will never forget the effect it had on me.

To a degree this question is contextual. I was stationed overseas when “God Bless The USA” first came out – I heard it the first time at a 4th of July picnic, no less. Despite the fact that it is a pretty hokey song, I had an amazing primal response to it and that comes back to me whenever I hear it. Anyway, patriotic songs are supposed to be hokey.

I also agree that “America the Beautiful” is a wonderful patriotic song – it has everything.

However, my all time favorite is “This Land Is Your Land.” Why? I don’t know. It’s just always been my favorite and I feel a swelling of love-of-country whenever I hear it.

"…think I’ll go out Alberta, the weathers good there in the fall…

I got some friends I could go a working for.."

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor.

Bwahahahaa.

I have to go with Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate Son

God Bless the USA, it is an incredibly hokey song, but it gives me this feeling in the gut. I grew up on Army Posts, so anything patriotic brings tears to my eyes. I was shocked when I moved to the States at 18 and they didn’t play the National Anthem before every movie and traffic didn’t stop every day at Sunset for the lowering of the Flag. Even when I was a teenage anarchist, I was still very patriotic.

Divemaster, I’m so glad you came home safely from Saudi. I think one of the most painful moments of my life was when I came home from school one afternoon right before the war, and I saw three sets of Desert Camo BDU’s in the living room. The only thing I could think to do was to iron them, so I did, sobbing the whole time. It still makes me cry to think about it, my dad didn’t go at the last minute, but there is no way I’ll ever be able to describe the emotions I felt that afternoon. I am so full of admiration for you and all the other members of this board who served. Thank you!

Oh Jess, I love “This Land is My Land”! I am a thoroughly hokey person.

Holst’s ‘Mars’…the song makes me want to kick ass…kicking ass makes me think of America.

<waiting for every foreign member to roll their eyes>

elbows… what is that song? lives in Alberta and is curious

God Bless America.

I can do a pretty lousy rendition of Kate Smith singing at full tonsil of this great song.

Fanfare for the Common Man I believe it’s called. It’s now used as the theme for Navy recruiting commercials.

Lee Greenwood destroyed Proud to be an American for me.

The year was '86 or '87 and the USS Nimitz was deployed. As a crewmember I anxiously awaited Mr. Greenwood’s arrival to the ship as part of a USO tour. NBC-TV was aboard and filmed his performance for posterity.
He was a total and complete asshole. As a member of the public affairs staff, we provided everything for him, but it was never enough.
We put him in the Admiral’s cabin, he wanted the skipper’s in port cabin.
He wouldn’t deign to do an interview with the ship’s TV crew or newspaper.
He wouldn’t sign autographs for the crew.
When we gave him his Ocean Spray Cranapple drink (which we had especially ordered 'cause that was one of the conditions he gave the USO for performing) it wasn’t cold enough.
When touring the ship, he wanted to make sure no crewmembers were around 'cause “He was off duty and they hassle him for autographs.”

His concern was not for the crew. He didn’t come to entertain. He didn’t come to raise morale. He didn’t come to express support.

He came to have his performance of “Proud to be an American” taped in front of an adoring military crowd in the Hangar Bay of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

With the personal contact I’ve had with the man, it sickened me when Lee Greenwood’s song became the “Unofficial Anthem” of the Gulf War.

Lee Greenwood can kiss my shiny-white deployed ass.