Alan Jackson, America, and Ignorance

[Djamila]

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell you the difference 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


If I read these lyrics right, then I don't think Alan Jackson is bragging about or flaunting his ignorance so much as he's making an appeal to a more basic value: namely, love. Moreover, that sort of appeal, coming as it did right after 9/11, is very much counter to a mood for vengence. Jackson is telling people that love is a supreme value even at a moment in time when the mood of the country is very negative. The lyrics, taken in context, seem to me admirable.

Wow, it amazes me sometimes Sunstone how two people vaguely similar can see things so differently. When I read that full verse, it reads like to me like:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I don't really follow politics
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell Iraq and Iran apart, so get'em both
But I know Jesus and I talk to God, unlike those wackos
And I remember from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Go Jesus! In yo' face, mofos!

 

[doppelganger]

But this is war, this is the men and women in uniform men like Alan Jackson claim to support - yet probably couldn't even find on a map. That's horrible and shameful.

<rant>

I agree that Americans not taking the time to educate themselves about the politics and history of the region we are sending our children to fight and die is both horrible and shameful. It is not enough to stick a magnet sticker on the back of my car and watch CNN. We should all put down the Ann Coulter and Al Franken polemics, turn off Bill O'Reilly and Joe Scarborough, and get some books written by scholars about Middle East history and politics. Read them! Understand what is happening in the Middle East, and why, and demand that our leadership act responsibly - with wisdom rather than soundbytes.

Politicians will send our children to die for their own purposes, and the only ones looking out for them are you and I. It is our obligation to those young men and women to support them by educating ourselves about the facts, and applying that knowledge to hold our leadership accountable.

</rant>

(I'm in an uncharacteristically foul mood right now after reading President Bush's speech last night in which he tried to take advantage of Americans' feelings about 9/11 to "sell" his bull**** about "Islamofascists" and how policing the Iraq Civil War is actually a fight for the future of Western Civilization. What a load of . . . But that's another post.)

 

[Ryan2065]

Also a quick question about ignorance in America... How many of them would know what happened July 11th with the Srebrenica massacre? Now how many people in the world know what happened September 11th?

And also why is it Americans feel that they shouldn't learn about another nation before they are blowing it up? Do you know how dependant the American economy is on the Middle East? Its not like oil prices change depending on situations in the middle east.

 

[MaddLlama]

Like I said before honey, it's county music.

 

[Sunstone]

Wow, it amazes me sometimes Sunstone how two people vaguely similar can see things so differently. When I read that full verse, it reads like to me like:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I don't really follow politics
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell Iraq and Iran apart, so get'em both
But I know Jesus and I talk to God, unlike those wackos
And I remember from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Go Jesus! In yo' face, mofos!

I don't get that at all, Djamila. Unfortunately, Alan Jackson isn't here to tell us what he meant by his lyrics. But my reading of them is that Jackson is actually encouraging people to put aside negative feelings like vengence and rage, and instead assert love.

It seems to me that if his song was motivated by the petty emotions you describe, he could have done an entirely better job of expressing them. Instead, Jackson is expressing the veiw of a person overwhelmed by events who seeks some rock to hold onto and finds it in his God and love.

 

[Ryan2065]

Like I said before honey, it's county music.

Its the music of the devil and republicans!

 

[MaddLlama]

Now how many people in the world know what happened September 11th?

In 1609 Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan island, in 1922 British mandate of Palestine began, and in 1965 the Beatles' "Help!," album hits #1 on the charts.

Oh, wait is that not what you were asking?

 

[Djamila]

Like I said before honey, it's county music.

Don't laugh! I like country music. I even like one Alan Jackson song, Little Bitty. It was the theme of my life for a while. That's why this is pee-ing me off so bad.

Everyone wants to talk about dancing on graves and all that BS, all I want to do is say it's not right to not know. I'd like to interview Alan today and ask him the difference between Iraq and Iran.

 

[MaddLlama]

Its the music of the devil and republicans!

And people in Texas living in trailer parks. :run:

 

[Djamila]

I don't get that at all, Djamila. Unfortunately, Alan Jackson isn't here to tell us what he meant by his lyrics. But my reading of them is that Jackson is actually encouraging people to put aside negative feelings like vengence and rage, and instead assert love.

It seems to me that if his song was motivated by the petty emotions you describe, he could have done an entirely better job of expressing them. Instead, Jackson is expressing the veiw of a person overwhelmed by events who seeks some rock to hold onto and finds it in his God and love.

Well, that makes a difference. At least the song is nice if you look at it that way.

But I still think the Iraq/Iran line is a bit much.

 

[Ryan2065]

And people in Texas living in trailer parks. :run:

Now why would you say that? Its not like any country music would appeal to Texas folk in trailer parks...

Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A
'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ***
It's the American way.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

 

[Willamena]

Wow, it amazes me sometimes Sunstone how two people vaguely similar can see things so differently. When I read that full verse, it reads like to me like:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I don't really follow politics
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell Iraq and Iran apart, so get'em both
But I know Jesus and I talk to God, unlike those wackos
And I remember from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Go Jesus! In yo' face, mofos!

eeks! um.... no.

 

[Djamila]

I hope Toby Keith knows the difference between Iraq and Iran lol. Or Europe and Iran for that matter.

 

[MaddLlama]

Toby Keith probably doesn't know the difference between Mexico and Canada.

That song makes me want to strangle people...

 

[Djamila]

Why is it rural people are the ones who get these stereotypes? In Bosnia we call them Indijanac (Indians), and they're always from rural eras.

Look at Irna Smaka, for example. Beautiful Muslim girl from a village near Kakanj. She won Miss Bosnia in 2003 and did all sorts of stupid things. She sold her crown, firstly. But the crowning jewel came when she went to Rome and said, on a national television show, "Oh no, tanks you for hafink me. I vury, vury happy be again in Greece."

 

[Ryan2065]

Toby Keith probably doesn't know the difference between Mexico and Canada.

Sure he does... the 51st and 52nd states of the USA!

 

[jewscout]

Wow, it amazes me sometimes Sunstone how two people vaguely similar can see things so differently. When I read that full verse, it reads like to me like:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I don't really follow politics
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell Iraq and Iran apart, so get'em both
But I know Jesus and I talk to God, unlike those wackos
And I remember from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Go Jesus! In yo' face, mofos!

we see what we wish to see sometimes...

 

[Willamena]

Also a quick question about ignorance in America... How many of them would know what happened July 11th with the Srebrenica massacre? Now how many people in the world know what happened September 11th?

Not sure what your point is. The difference between perceptions of the two events is that that latter was taken WAY out of its jurisdiction to invoke the involvement of the rest of the world.

And also why is it Americans feel that they shouldn't learn about another nation before they are blowing it up? Do you know how dependant the American economy is on the Middle East? Its not like oil prices change depending on situations in the middle east.

Should George Bush have delayed pressing the attack, then, until polls confirmed that people had learned about Iraq? That wouldn't have been in his best interests.

 

[Djamila]

we see what we wish to see sometimes...

More than sometimes in this thread. lol

 

[Djamila]

Should George Bush have delayed pressing the attack, then, until polls confirmed that people had learned about Iraq? That wouldn't have been in his best interests.

Yes, it would have been. Then the US wouldn't be there. Saddam Hussein would still be in power, true... but he's the lesser of two evils, given Iraq's current situation. Iraq was a secular dictatorship and as much an evil in the eyes of al'Qaeda as any western country. Now it's al'Qaeda's greatest "success".

I wish Bush had waited until Americans found out there was no connection to 9/11, which the rest of the world already knew at the time - hence no broad coalition for Iraq, but a powerful one in Afghanistan - which clearly did have a connection.