33 years before Childish Gambino’s “This is America,” Kurtis Blow released this track on an album of the same name. While the hook may give the impression of sappy patriotism, the interspersed quotes and accompanying video reveal a deeper meaning. In reality, Kurtis Blow was attempting to expose Ame...
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all
[Cut and Scratched Quotes Interspersed Throughout]
Square meal for every man
Dr. Martin Luther King
Square meal for every man and every woman
Slavery!
Dr. Martin Luther King
I've been to the mountaintop
Don’t you love America, my favorite country?
Don’t you love America, land of democracy?
Don’t you love America, my favorite country?
Don’t you love America, land of democracy?
The issues are global
I John Fitzgerald Kennedy, do solemnly swear
Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country
I Richard Nixon, do solemnly swear
The issues are global
Don’t you love America, my favorite country? Germany
Don’t you love America, Russia land of democracy? Africa
War
Well, from California to the coast of Maine
From the days of pickin’ cotton and sugar cane
From the mountaintops to the rolling hills
Baseball, hot dogs and all the cheap thrills
There’s New York City and Kalamazoo
White, black, red, yellow and of course the Jew
Democracy is the land of the free
But we’re all gonna die if there’s a World War III!
Lebanon, Beirut, Iraq and Iran
Arabians, Russians don’t like Americans
Revolutionary terrorists swarm like bees
Take American hostages across the seas
But how long Reagan go for that?
Before he really gets mad and then he goes for a bat?
War!
Yes I’m talking World War III!
Destruction! The end of you and me!
Good lord
Old soldiers never die, they just fade away
I see little hope for us
Good lord
Can we solve .. peace?
Can we solve .. love?
America
Unity
America
Peace
America
America was written by Kurtis Blow.
America was produced by Kurtis Blow.