this link<\/a>.)<\/p>\nIn 1970, Wayne began to record the spoken word album
\nAmerica, Why I Love Her<\/i>, reciting the unabashed patriotism
\nin fellow actor John Mitchum’s poetry. At the time, the United
\nStates was embroiled in the controversial and divisive war in
\nVietnam, and its own shores had been awash with civil unrest for a
\nnumber of years. Wayne, always an outspoken conservative who was
\nfiercely proud of his country, took every opportunity to promote
\nthe values that he believed made America the greatest country on
\nEarth. This spoken-word album was the method he used to directly
\nchannel those undiluted feelings during a time in which he felt his
\ncountry had lost its way.<\/p>\n
A cynic might scoff and arrogantly dismiss this album as nothing
\nbut a tasteless exercise in blind, jingoistic patriotism that
\nborders on propaganda. After having listened to it, I can easily
\nunderstand that point of view, but that is also unnecessarily
\nclose-minded and even na\u00efve.<\/p>\n
On the cusp of my first listen, I knew what to expect from a
\nspoken-word John Wayne album, and believe me, it did not
\ndisappoint. Over the course of ten tracks, the album is practically
\na shopping list that systematically recites everything that makes
\nthe United States wonderful, powerful, unique, the envy of the
\nworld, etc, etc, etc. There are songs dedicated to America’s
\nnatural beauty, its ingenious political system with its checks and
\nbalances, the symbolism of its flag, its fallen heroes, and the
\ntenacity of its people. The rampant optimism and over-the-top
\nsentimentality can be rather overwhelming at certain points.<\/p>\n
But you know what? For the most part, it works very well. While
\nextremely sappy at times, the mainly orchestral background music
\nand large choir creates the appropriate tone for the poetic
\ncontent, liberally using the melodies of much-loved traditional
\nstandards in a variety of dynamic arrangements ranging from epic
\nbombast to subtle, mellow passages. These shifts keep the tracks
\ninteresting and do a wonderful job of underscoring the lyrical mood
\nset by the piece in question. Examples of this would be the
\nanthemic military march in “The Pledge Of Allegiance,” the
\nmelancholy strings of “Why I Love Her,” the contemporary folk-rock
\nof “Face The Flag,” and the old-time country tinge of “The Good
\nThings.”<\/p>\n
Of course, the focus of attention is mainly on John Wayne, and
\nhe delivers a wonderful performance. Despite the fact that the
\nalbum took three years to complete due to his ongoing health
\nproblems and hectic filming schedule, his speech is full of
\nconfidence, clearly reciting the poems in his trademark laid-back
\ndrawl. He sounds completely natural and at ease, never once giving
\nin to dramatics. Like a grizzly old uncle, his voice exudes a
\nwarmth and wisdom and passion for his subject that really brings
\nthe material to life.<\/p>\n
For an album that could have been rife with embarrassing
\nmissteps (which is, I admit, what I was fully expecting), there are
\nsurprisingly few. Only two moments had me cringing. One is during
\nthe track “Why Are You Marching, Son?”, when Wayne pays tribute to
\nthe brave soldiers who gave their lives for America by specifically
\nmentioning wars and battle sites, erroneously including a line
\nreferring to the liberation of South Vietnam from its communist
\ninvaders, even though by the time this album was released in 1973
\nthat would clearly not be the outcome of that particular conflict.
\nThe second embarrassing misstep is “An American Boy Grows Up,” a
\nfictionalized account written from a gushing fatherly perspective
\nabout the coming of age of his boy, a narrative that suffers
\nheavily under the idealized clich\u00e9s of making the high
\nschool football team and volunteering for the army. Even Ward and
\nJune Cleaver would struggle to sit through this one with a straight
\nface.<\/p>\n
Those minor misgivings aside, the album won me over with its
\nabsolute sincerity and good intentions and lack of condescension.
\nIt is obvious that both Wayne and Mitchum held a deep love for
\ntheir nation, and that passion comes through in spades on
\nAmerica, Why I Love Her<\/i>. One may not agree with their
\ndoggedly patriotic stance, but it is impossible not to respect
\ntheir undying faith and conviction.<\/p>\n
Themes of honor, strength, decency, morality, freedom, justice,
\nequality, and sacrifice are central to the album, and are repeated
\nfrequently. These are universal and timeless themes, which keep the
\ncontent relevant and fresh, particularly in today’s political
\nclimate. In “The Hyphen,” Wayne calls for an end to racial
\ndivisions, for all Americans to stand as one. In other tracks, the
\nideas of freedom, individuality and tolerance of dissent are
\nrepeatedly championed. This is a very powerful message that needs
\nto be revisited in today’s America, where an environment of fear
\nand a gradual tightening of freedom of expression seem to be taking
\nplace. How could anyone seriously deny the benefits of what Wayne
\nwas saying here?<\/p>\n
Fortunately, since its release on CD in November 2001 as a
\nreaction to the 9\/11 terrorist attacks, people have rediscovered
\nthis album (it even charted as high as #18 on Billboard’s internet
\nalbum chart in 2002).<\/p>\n
I was fully prepared to hate
\nAmerica, Why I Love Her<\/i>. The whole concept seemed to smack
\nof contrived, tactless nationalism in a corny presentation, with
\nnone other than America’s biggest patriot and icon leading the
\nproceedings. I was wrong. The album serves as a wake-up call to
\nthose who take things for granted, and the ideas contained within
\ncertainly are important to remember for any citizen. And it doesn’t
\njust apply to America – as a Junior American (i.e. Canadian), I
\nfeel that these themes are equally relevant in my own country, and
\nshould be anywhere else where people are free.<\/p>\n
Some will no doubt balk at the glorified idealism and relentless
\noptimism embodied here to the very core, but should we not
\nconstantly aspire for greatness? I find the ideas promoted here to
\nbe inspirational, and they will stir the emotions of all but the
\nmost hopelessly jaded listener. Just ask yourself – is this
\napproach really more na\u00efve than viewing everything in life
\nwith skepticism and suspicion?<\/p>\n
As John Wayne would say: “I reckon not, pilgrim.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":26360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6841],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-37591","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-wayne","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37591"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}