4 Favorite Songs About America

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
What's going on over there. Well, there's a whole rash of articles about
some incidents from his past that arenefarious in nature, are not so good
for his reputation. And also ifhe did these things are pretty awful things
to do. Oh like what thereare some allegations of sexual assault, which

(00:22):
is just yeah, pretty garbage stuff. If true, it's an awful thing
that he did. RFK Junior hasdescribed a Vanity Fair story as a lot
of garbage, responding to several allegationsthat include he had sexually assaulted a former
family babysitter. Vanity Fair reported inthe late nineteen nineties mister Kennedy had groped

(00:42):
Eliza Cooney, a recent college graduatehired as part time babysitter for his children
and to assist him with his environmentallaw work. She was twenty three years
old at the time. Now there'sanother thing that's coming out right now that
by the way, who is VanityVanity Fair to be reporting on this right
anyway? Go on this this otherpiece of info that's come out a bottom

(01:04):
that just had my head spinning.It's it's ridiculous. It's also awful,
but also awfully ridiculous. Okay,okay, so you know how what was
it like a month or two agothe report came out that RFK Junior had
a dead worm living in his brain. Yeah, I do remember that.
I also thought he had said that. Yeah, he said that, right,

(01:27):
he got out in front of thatnews wanted everybody to know. Yeah,
worm got in my brain and diedin there, and that's what created
me forgetting about some stuff. Right, Well, we might have a have
have the the source to why thathappened. Uh huh. He's alleged to
have set some uncool photos of peoplewithout clothes without their consent to some of

(01:53):
his friends. Who's alleging this.This is all in articles that you can
find out. I'm looking at anarticle on the Daily Piece. Okay,
so that's awful stuff. But alsohe is also alleged to have sent a
photo of a dog that had beenbarbecued that he was preparing to eat.
That can't be real. It's inthe article. I'm not saying it's real.

(02:15):
I'm just saying I'm reading about it. He was. Okay, so
he's on a Breaking Points podcast.I've never listened to the Breaking Points podcast,
but RFK said, I'm not achurch boy. I had a very,
very rambunctious youth, I said inmy announcement speech. I have many
skeletons in my closet. If theyall could vote, I could run for
King of the world, which isI don't know how funny that is,

(02:36):
but anyway, He had no commenton the sexual assault claim. The magazine
reported he had several extramarital affairs andvigorously defended a cousin who was convicted of
murdering a fifteen year old girl inConnecticut. RFKSE campaign pointed reporters to a
post on x where he accused VanityFair of being in cahoos with the Democratic

(02:57):
Party. I mean, this isincredibly well timed if you're thinking about it,
right, it's all the way inthe wake of the Joe Biden debate
debacle, right right, Yeah,very well timed, and of course he
was you know, it's notorious thathe was denied what is it security detail
and hasn't been able to make itonto a debate stage at all. So

(03:20):
but also, okay, here's thestrangest part about all of this. Well,
let me just say real quick aboutthe dog. In this podcast,
he talked about the dog, thebarbecue dog on a trip to Korea,
but he said the photo actually wastaken in Patagonia region of South America.
The animal was a goat and nota dog. Okay, so that could
be true. So it's a misunderstandingof what it is. But he's obviously

(03:43):
he's saying that the photo's real,So people could be intentionally misinterpreting what the
photo is. Yeah, However,there are people who are saying that it
for certain reasons because of the waythe anatomy looks in the picture, that
they think that it is what peopleare saying it is. However, based

(04:04):
on the metadata, the photos metadata, the barbecue goat dates it back to
twenty ten, okay, the sameyear he received his dead brain worm diagnosis.
WHOA, you can't make this stuffup. You just can't. Oh

(04:32):
man, this is America. Ifonly Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison,
and Monroe could have seen this.Wow, Yeah, this is something
else that's crazy. I mean he'scooked. I mean he's not. And

(04:54):
then he said in the podcast aswell that he was committed to running for
president as an independ but if JoeBiden stepped aside and they were open to
like welcoming him back into the DemocraticParty. He said, the best path
for me to the White House isthrough the Democratic Party. He says,
I think I would probably be thebest choice for everybody, and it's certainly
something I would consider if he stepsaside. I read this. This is

(05:15):
an amalgam of all this stuff fromthe BBC. So just shout out to
the BBC. Yikes, that's amess. He's cooked. I mean he
was cooked. We already talked talkedto you about he had waning support because
people are realizing, wait a second, I'm going to waste my vote on
that guy. It's un American.I think to not include him into the
debates if he's getting legitimate support.But it just feels like more and more

(05:38):
people are hopping off. That's myunderstanding. Yeah. I mentioned that the
latest pull from ruders and IPSO saysthat Michelle Obama actually is pulling incredibly well
against Trump, leading Trump by elevenpoints and receiving over fifty percent of the
vote over the former president. Noother potential Democratic replacement is beating him,

(05:59):
although a couple others, including KamalaHarris. If you can believe that is
within the margin of Eric Avin Newsomwas right behind her. There's no way
that you can tell me that KamalaHarris is going to beat Donald Trump,
and it was just no way anyway. Here you go. This was from
March. That's four months ago,so roughly four months ago. This came
out from NBC News. NBC Newsgot a statement from the direction of the

(06:23):
Director of Communications for the Office ofMichelle Obama. Her name is Crystal Carson.
Crystal Carson said this and I quote, as former First Lady Michelle Obama
has expressed several times over the yearsshe will not be running for president.
Missus Obama supports President Joe Biden andVice President Kamala Harris's re election campaign end

(06:45):
quote. This was four months ago. A lot can change, Okay,
gonna say that. Also, thinkabout this. She has been very active
in non political manners since even whenshe was the first She said in a
Netflix special with Oprah Winfrey last year, she said politics is hard, and

(07:08):
the people who get into it,you've got to want it. It's got
to be in your soul because itis so important. It's not in my
soul end quote. So there yougo. In an interview with the BBC
in twenty twenty two, she saidshe detests questions about running for president.
Jill Biden was asked in twenty twentyabout a potential running mate for Joe Biden.
This was before Kamala Harris was selected, and someone from CNN suggested maybe

(07:32):
former First Lady Michelle Obama, andJill Biden said, you know, I'd
love it if Michelle would agree toit. But you know, if she
had I think she has had itwith politics. I don't know. She's
so good at everything she does thatthat would be wonderful. So there you
go. I guess the whole pointof this is as well as she's testing,
I have literally not seen anyone who'sin the know bring up Michelle Obama

(07:57):
as a viable backup plan. Iwent through a list. There's like seven
names I think that people were sayingthat are possible non Joe Biden nominees.
Let's see if I can go throughthese counties as I go, Kamala Harris
one, Gavin Newsom, JB.Pritzker, Governor of Illinois. Three Gretchen
Whitmer, Governor of Michigan. ForJosh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania. Andy

(08:20):
Basheer, the governor of Kentucky.Six and Pete Boudageitch Transportation Secretary. Seven.
Those are the seven names that Ihave been seeing. I haven't seen
any other names. Those are likein a variety of ways. Those are
names from different sources that I'm seeingpop up as really like backup playings.
So Gavin Newsom you have not beenseeing, Well, Gavin's on that list.

(08:43):
He was the second name I said. I told you to count not
to pay attention, right, thankyou. Yeah, I hypnotize you to
not pay attention to the names.No, but Michelle Obama's not on that
list at all, and I haven'tseen any reputable source saying that she is
atential option. That doesn't mean itcouldn't happen, But man, we're gonna
have to have a lot of accelerationon Joe Biden getting out of the way

(09:05):
if that's the case, and thelater that happens, if that happens,
the more desperate I think the Democratsare just to try to get somebody who
can win, and who is that? It's probably Michelle Obama. You can't
close the book, but everything thatshe has said and everything her office said,
and that was from four months agothat her office said she's not doing
this. She has told everybody foryears not interested. We'll see if that's

(09:26):
still the case in a couple moremonths. And when that, well,
I guess it's next month. MidAugust is the Democratic National Convention and they
have to have those names finalized forthe ballots, you know what I'm saying.
So I guess we'll find out thenfour eighteen. We'll get to a
Friday four coming up next on newsradio eleven ten kfab, Oh, Maurice
Soner on news Radio eleven ten kfab. Listen to the Big O' Money Show

(09:54):
with Bill Aldman to the Premier AdvisoryGroup every Sunday morning at eight on news
Radio eleven ten and listen to replaysat bigomoney dot com. Yes, and
we are celebrating America here on thisJuly the third, tomorrow Independence Day.
I say, one of the coolthings that we can do as a country

(10:18):
is express ourselves with art. Andthere's all sorts of different ways that you
can do this. Well, Iwas talking to Matt about the way that
we can maybe celebrate the United States, or at least this kind of thing,
you know, patriotism, if youwill. And one of the ways
I thought was by songs. Sowe have songs that we're playing here,

(10:41):
and I think it's up for interpretation. I don't know if there's anything specifically,
you know, good or bad onyou know, like songs about the
United States or songs about America.I don't take them so literally. And
there are some songs like for Americaby Jackson Brown, which I really like
as a song, but it's definitelyvery like skeptical of our own government,

(11:03):
and that was written in the eighties. And then you talk about, you
know, songs like Born in theUSA by Bruce Springsteen, which a lot
of people say is an awesome patriotism, patriotistic, patriotic song, and it's
actually kind of the opposite. It'sjust, you know, it's it's also
very angsty toward our own government.I don't mind that, and I think
those can count here. I didn'tgo with those because I'm thinking about,

(11:26):
you know, things that are veryobviously positive about the country. But I
gotta tell you that there are acouple of different ways that you can look
at this, and I think I'mdown for it. So the Friday for
which we're doing on a Wednesday,because we're not here on Friday. Is
what are your Friday for? Ofpatriotic or not even patriotic? Your Friday

(11:48):
four of songs about America? LikeAmerica for good or for bat is is
the subject of the song? Thatmakes sense? Yeah? So do you
have some youah, you have alist for me the way you set that.
I'm wondering if this just disqualifies oneor two of my entries. But
that's fine. Suck suck through it. Yeah, okay, first one,
This is a song I really likedwhen I was a kid, and there's

(12:09):
two versions. I gotta go withthe version that was popular when I was
a kid, because it's also reimaginedby someone who actually is an American.
The guess who were not? Theywere a Canadian band, Lenny Kravitz.
I'm going Lenny Kravitz, the legendaryLenny Kravitz an American Woman. Yeah,
so good, Such a good song. I love that song. When it

(12:31):
would come on on the radio,we'd be on a road trip or wherever
we're going as a family, I'dalways sing it out loud. I love
that song and American Woman's just agreat song. I think that song's about
America. You know, yeah,no, it is. And that's the
thing. It's like within an interpretation, right, anything that says the word
USA or America in this I thinkis totally up for Grabsky, that makes

(12:52):
sense, Yeah, okay, next, next up. This kind of falls
under the category of would you considerthis a protest song or at least a
song that maybe is my count Thisis a song that I still love.
I just I love the way itsounds. It's just an awesome song,
but also it's about something really interestingand about a time that I wasn't alive
for obviously. But Fortunate Son byCreeden's Clearwater Revival Ceer's song Fortunate Son,

(13:20):
Yeah, definitely a protest song,but man it screams the Vietnam era and
American Yeah. Yeah, and it'sjust it's just one of my favorites with
the Red, white, and Blue. Yeah, yep, there you go.
And another one this is just ait's it's the song Ragged Old Flag
by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash,Yes, so gotta go something with Johnny

(13:43):
Cash's just a classic song, beautifullyrics in the song and you know,
talking throughout the song. Just kindof one of those more classic Johnny Cash
songs, and he's got a lotof good ones and this is one of
them, Okay, and then lastone and last one. There's no lyrics
in this one, but doesn't haveto. What it is got to go

(14:03):
with the Star Spangled Banner by JimmyHendrix. We're talking maybe one of the
great performances of our national anthem ever, and it was at Woodstock of all
places. Yeah, I goosebumps.Imagine hippies. Imagine the hippies now,
like whatever the hippies are now,these pro Palestinian protest types, imagine if

(14:24):
one of their heroes whip that badboy out for the Star Spangled banner at
whatever the next like, would theyboo him off stage. It's become such
a controversial tune because people want tohate America, people want to dislike America.
Go back fifty three fIF fifty fiveyears to Woodstock. These hippies were

(14:45):
in awe of this man shredding onthe national anthem. It's incredible. Go
if you haven't seen the YouTube video, there's a YouTube video that has that.
You gotta watch it. Gotta watchit. Yeah, Oh, it's
good goosebump stuff. That's a goodone. So what's the four? So
to go back here, it wasit was American Woman by Lenny Kravitz,
Fortunate Son by CCR YEP, RaggedOld Flag by Johnny Cash YEP, and

(15:09):
Star Spangled Banner by Jimmy Hendrick.Sweet, I got four more. I'm
gonna do those after the break,and I want yours too. If you
have a patriotic song or four ofthem. We're doing the Friday four on
a Wednesday because we're not here therest of this week. Calling now four,
two, five, five, eight, eleven ten. After I say
my list, we'll get to yourlist. Coming up on news radio eleven
ten Kfab Emery Songer on news Radioeleven ten KFAB plead, just jump this

(15:33):
this friends, Jump in the car, Listen to news radio eleven ten KFAB
at home, ask your smart speakerto play KFAB on iHeartRadio. Ah yeah,

(15:54):
hey cars away Emory songer with youMatt Case alongside. It's four thirty
eight. Spoiler alert. This songdid not, unfortunately make my Friday fourth
Patriotic Songs. But yeah, Imean there's uh, there's all sorts of
I mean, there's a lot ofdifferent ways that you can go with the

(16:14):
Friday four of the patriotic songs likeMount Rushmore of patriotic or songs about America,
I think is kind of is morewhat I'm talking about here, because
I want to open it up toanything, right, that's that's mostly my

(16:37):
whole thing is even songs that aresomewhat critical of the United States or America
in different ways. Like though,I think those those songs have merit as
songs about America and they you canstill really like the songs and the message
of the songs, even if theyare critical at times. It helps push
us into maybe a more positive directionat times I'm down with. It depends

(17:00):
on what you want to do.So Matt, remind the people what your
list is real quick, your Friday. For your Mount Rushmore of songs about
America, it was American Woman byLenny Kravitz. He knows that the guests
who did it first, they're justnot American people. They're just they're They're
a Canadian band. So that's whyI gotta go. And Also Lenny was
my version. I grew up withthat song. Love that song. Lenny

(17:22):
Kravitz is awesome. Also Fortunate Sonby CCR was another song there's a good
there's a good protest the Vietnam erasong. Yeah, yeah, and it's
it's just it's I feel like it'ssynonymous with that time. It's a zegeis
war. Anytime any movie that hasto do with anything about that, it's
going to end up in that movie, like it's for sure. And it's

(17:42):
just a great song too, yeait is. Yeah. Also a Ragged
Old Flag by Johnny Cash just aclassic. Yeah, an absolute classic,
came out in nineteen seventy four andmy final one on the list. It
has no words. It is infact our national anthem as interpreted by Jimmy

(18:03):
Hendricks at Woodstock, the Star Spangledbanner played on Jimmy Hendricks's guitar at Woodstock.
I had that. I got aJimmy Hendrix CD when I was in
high school and that was on it, and it just had goosebumps. Still
get goosebumps every time I hear it. Yeah for sure. No, that's
pretty interesting. Yeah, So Igot I got four for myself. Here

(18:26):
you go. Number one is Americathe Beautiful, as recorded by Ray Charles,
which I was first introduced by whenI watched The Sandlot, which when
they have the fireworks the July fourthFireworks game that they play. They say
that there's enough flight in the skyfor us to play a night game basically

(18:48):
with all the fireworks and the songthat's playing in the background. I mean,
it's just one of the quint essentialmovie scenes ever for me, is
the guys playing baseball with that songin the background, America, the Beautiful
sung by Ray Charles, with allthe fireworks going on. It's just incredible.
Number two, We're an American Bandby Grand Funk Railroad, which I
have we play, you know thatas a kind of an open sometimes a

(19:14):
bumper to come back. Almaha getsa shout out in the song too,
which you know is always good.Cool. But yeah, that's not necessarily
explicitly patriotic by any chance. Buthey, it's a celebration of be an
American, and that's that's something else. This one's kind of controversial in some
ways. But what he guthriees thisLand is Your Land, which was written

(19:34):
as kind of a controversial response toGod Bless America, which was written by
Irving Berlin. Yeah, and obviouslynow that we use God Bless America as
a kind of a patriotic song there. You know, there's there's a lot

(19:56):
of backstories behind this, but thiswas a song written in the forties and
nowadays just how we interpret it thesedays. You know, it's seemingly and
it feels like as I'm as Ihear it again in present day, a
celebration of everyone who lives here,from sea to shining Sea, essentially.
And then my number four, here'sa deep cut, Sweet Madam Blue by

(20:22):
Sticks. Oh are you familiar withSweet mad and Blue? I am not
so. Dennis de Young wrote SweetMadden Blue for the band Styx. He
was the lead singer, and thatwas for the America's bi centennial, so
he literally wrote it in the runup to America's by centennial in nineteen seventy
six. And the lyrics are justabsolute Sticks beauty right like Dennis to Young

(20:48):
beauty, like some of the lyrics. You just got to listen to the
song. It's it's like six minutes. It's a great song though, it's
so good, Sweet mad in Blue, gaze in your looking glass. You're
not a child anymore. You knowyou're two hundred years old. Now,
you're not a child anymore. Thefuture is on the all in the past,
you know, like look at thepast to get to the future.

(21:10):
Then there's a whole thing with hardrocking guitars toward the end, and the
whole thing is ameh Rica, ameyorRica, Ame Rica, Ame Rica.
It's amazing. You got to justlisten to it. Sweet Madame Blue by
Sticks love it so America. TheBeautiful by Ray Charles were an American band
by Grand Funk Greweld. This LandsYour Landwood of Guthrie and Sweet Madame Blue

(21:30):
by Sticks might be a little lesserknown, but you should go and find
it cool. Taking calls Friday fourpatriotic songs. You don't have to have
four. You can come up withone, two, whatever. Am I
seeing this right? When Johnny comesmarching home? We got three. John's
on the line right now, Okay, so John number one, Line one
John. Hopefully John knows that it'shim. John, what's on your mind?

(21:52):
Hey? I was, I'll giveyou a quick you were talking about
the Stars and Stripes Forever. JohnPhillips SUSA. You know, yeah,
I'm in the alumni band for theCornerusker Band. I played in the sun
Ball in nineteen eighty in El Paso, and the eighty one, eighty two,
and eighty three Orange Bowls, andJohn Phillips SUSA wrote quite a bit
of the songs that we still playtoday in the Cornusker Band. Nice there

(22:15):
you go. Hey, by theway, By the way, John,
can I ask you a question?Did you like the Sunball? Because I
like the Sunball on TV? Isit as cool in person as it is
on TV? Back in the nineteeneighties? It was a lot of fun.
But I was going to tell youI have four songs that I was
going to tell you on my list, okay, And the first one is
Ray Charles America the Beautiful. Idon't know how you can top that.

(22:37):
That has to be the best patrioticsong I've ever heard. Absolutely. But
the second second one would be theMormon Tabernacle plot choir singing Battle Hymn of
the Republic. And if you've neverheard their version of that, oh my
god, you've got to listen tothat, okay. And then Kate Smith

(22:57):
singing the Stars Band banner. That'stotally awesome. And then the final one,
maybe maybe you've never heard this before, Red Skelton. You ever heard
of Red Skelton, the comedian that'scorrect. Red Skelton back in the sixties,
he did a rest. He recitedthe Pledge of Allegiance and he explained

(23:19):
the entire pledge of I I haveseen this, I have seen that.
That is Yeah, that's some goodstuff. It's awesome. Yeah, there
you go. Anyway, Hey,John Love, it really appreciate you coming
in. Man. Happy for byeAmory. Yeah, audios, John number
two, John number two is onthe line, John number two, what's
on your mind? Jean Morrison diedthis day in nineteen seventy one, and

(23:44):
my heart goes out to him.And there's there's a late mom and dad.
His dad was a Vietnam hero.His dad would understand. His father
was in the Navy and he ranthe knee be uh in the in the
in the ocean by over there byVietnam. And I mean he was he

(24:07):
was an admiral or something from whereI ustand he was a great man.
But my heart goes out to everybody. I love Jim Morris, and I
happen to be one of them.My brother happened to be one of them.
My brothers a Vietnam veteran. Andanyway, I wanted to mention something
to you, guys. Johnny Cashcome out of the song called this Land
is the Land, Layer of MyLand by Wood Goufree too, and it's

(24:30):
really a great song. And thename of the album it's called I believe
it's called America, and it's reallya great album. But anyway, no,
I appreciate it, Hey, John, go ahead and light my fire,
all right, yes, sir,Now that's without a that's without a
blood, right, yeah, no, for sure, Yeah, yeah,

(24:52):
that just figuratively. Figuratively for sure. Hey, thanks, John, appreciate
it. Let's go to John numberthree. John number three, welcome to
the show. What's on your mind? Hey, how you doing today?
I'm good. I just can't believewe had three John's all on the line
at the same time. That waspretty crazy. I'm third John. I
guess I come right before Jude andthe revelationship. But anyway, but anyway,

(25:17):
before we had all this the ordercrisis up in our face, we
used to sing about people coming toAmerica like Neil Diamond did. Yeah,
that's long, I think, andI think it's very patriotic. They're coming
to America And I love that song. Yeah, and you have a great
fourth of July. Okay, youtoo, John, Thank you so much.

(25:37):
Yep, But all right, man, this good stuff four forty eight.
You got a patriotic song you'd liketo shout out? Now's a good
time four two five five eight eleventen. Got some on the emails as
well, emeriakfab dot com. Moreon the way on news radio eleven ten,
kfab, Sharon, you got somesongs for me today? I do
John Wayne when he recites a pledgeof a legion and what it means?

(26:00):
Okay, and America Why I loveher John Wayne again? And then Lee
Greenwood's God Bless America. Yeah.And Alan Jackson, where were you when
the world stopped turning? There's agood one too, Alan Jackson. Hey,
those are very eclectic. And guesswhat. I love that you picked
different ones than we did. Ilove that, Sharon. I appreciate you

(26:22):
calling in. Yeah, happy Independence, say of you two. Brad's on
our phone line at four o twofive five eight eleven ten. Hello Brad,
what do you got? Hey?Well, Sharon kind of stole my
cunder. I'm sitting out here onmy lawnmower in the middle of the lawn
just screaming white. Can't we gotLee Greenwood. Yeah, I was waiting,
you know, I was waiting forthat. This is the thing,
Brad. Sometimes there's one that's justtoo obvious, and that one's such a

(26:47):
great song, and it's just tooobvious for us to take. So we
were gonna leave it for other peopleto have, you know what I mean.
Yeah, every time I hear it, my allergies get no, I'm
hearing you hey. So, sowhat's interesting is I heard that song again.
I was in Chicago for a Fourthof July and I went and I
watched the over Lake, Michigan theydo a firework display and I was on

(27:07):
top of the Navy Peer like youcan. You can buy tickets to go
to a Fourth of July party withdance club and all that stuff. Nice,
and I was there and the firstsong they played while the fireworks are
going off really loudly over the DJspeakers was God Bless the USA by Lee
Greenwood. And Yeah, that's amoment, dude. I'm never for gonna
forget how I felt in that momentwatching those fireworks in Chicago, hearing that

(27:30):
song blast over those DJ speakers.It was an incredible experience. We used
to go to Lovewell Lake in Kansason fourth of July and they'd shoot fireworks
off over the lake and yeah,that was an experience. That's awesome.
Man. Hey, thanks for callingin, Brad really appreciate it. All
right, thank you. Yep,have a good one. All right,
If you got some you can fireaway. I call you saw another hour.

(27:52):
We can talk about whatever. Igot some emails that I'll get to
here and talk about their decisions andwhat songs they like to talk about for
this Independence Day as we have thattomorrow in the next day, as we
me and Matt aren't going to behere the next couple of days. We're
going to get a little bit along weekend. But as far as that
goes, we'd love to talk toyou now, So call us now.
Four oh two, five five eighteleven ten four oh two, five five,
eight eleven ten. Plenty more onthe way as we dig in to

(28:17):
what should be a phenomenal Independence Daycelebrating the two hundred and forty eighth anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence. NewsRadio eleven ten KFAB