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War has always been a controversial issue throughout the world. There are many who completely and fully support going to war, many who absolutely detest the thought, and many who just do not care either way. When September 11th happened, there were millions that wanted to go over and blow up Afghanistan because of what the terrorists did. In Toby Keith’s song, “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” he expresses his views on what happened.

In “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” the persona is an American man. There are many lines that suggest he is an American. In the first few lines, it says, “American girls and American guys we’ll always stand up and salute we’ll always recognize.” This is proof because he is including himself in the phrase. The persona also states in the song that “this nation that [he] loves has fallen under attack.” This whole song is flowing with American pride, and you can tell by simply looking at the lyrics. “Now this nation that I love is falling under attack,” and “You’ll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. cause we’ll put a boot in your ass it’s the American way,” are two clear examples of patriotism. To people that are for war, this song would make people proud to be Americans and riel them up.

Toby uses his lyrics to get people to feel emotion. He does this by adding in a personal story about a boy’s dad who had served in the army and lost one of his eyes in battle. Even after that, the boy’s father still flew an American flag in their yard until he died. The father wanted his family to be happy and live in a free land. Toby also tells about September 11th and how “This nation that [he] loves has fallen under attack. A mighty sucker punch came flyin’ in from somewhere in the back, soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye, man, we lit up your world like the 4th of July.” When it says “a mighty sucker punch came flying in from somewhere in the back,” signifies that the terrorists did this without us knowing it was going to happen, therefore making it very shocking to everyone when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center. The planes crashing into the buildings represent the “big black eye” that Toby Keith is referring to. It is not a literal black eye, but a figure of speech. What I interpret from this meaning is that although the terrorists did hurt us, just like a black eye heals, so will the United States. The chorus is basically telling about different symbols in America that are saying, “no, no, you shouldn’t have done that.” There is Uncle Sam, who is putting names at the top of the list to enroll into the war, the Statue of Liberty shaking her fist, and the eagle flying. He tells them (the terrorists) that it is going to be hell when Mother Freedom starts ringing her bell. It also says “it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you.” I think this means that every other nation in the world is on our side. In the end, Toby writes, “Justice will be served and the battle will rage, this big dog will fight when you rattle his cage, and you’ll be sorry you messed with the U.S. of A, cause we’ll put a boot up your ass, it’s the American way.” This means that the Americans are going to fight back and the terrorists are going to get what they deserved. “This big dog will fight if you rattle its cage,” means that if someone pushes our buttons, we are going to fight back, even stronger. “You’ll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. Cause we’ll put a boot up your ass, it’s the American way,” signifies how proud we are to be an American and that we aren’t going to let someone take that pride away from us.

Toby Keith did a good job with the lyrics for this song. It impacts people, whether positively or negatively. For those pro-war people, it might make them go be in the army and go over and fight. Whereas for others, it might make them go to capital hill and protest the war. Others who are not so hooked on the war or don’t really have an opinion on the war, may simply just listen to this song, because they like country music, and they think this is a good song. No matter which way you look at the song, you still become proud of your country when you hear this song.