Revision Paper #4-Toby Keith

Marian Acee

Adam Weinstein

English 101

6 December 2007


Today, war is an ongoing debate brought up by many different individuals throughout the United States. Almost every individual has their own view, whether it be pro-war or anti-war. Some decide to present their beliefs publicly by public protest, petitions and debates while others like to keep their beliefs to themselves. Some people take the utmost pride in our country and want everyone to have the same outlook. Toby Keith, a country singer/songwriter portrays his beliefs in many of his songs. His song, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” personifies his strong beliefs about our country in war.


Toby’s song, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”, is a response to the vicious attacks of September 11th, 2001. “Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack”(Line 15) symbolizes he is talking about the recent terrorist acts. Throughout the song he presents to “American girls and American guys”(Line 1) his patriotism and his aggression towards the war. This shows that the persona of the song is an American. He also presents a very patriotic persona when saying “My daddy served in the army, where he lost his right eye, but he flew a flag out in our yard until the day that he died, he wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me to grow up and live happy in the land of the free.”(Lines 8-14) This shows that he grew up in a very patriotic family and that is all he has ever known. Even though his father lost his right eye, he kept faith in his country and never lost pride. By putting his views into a song, Toby is reaching out to others to show how strong his faith and support is in our country. He wants every American to feel as he does and wants all Americans to stand strong in what they believe in.


In this song, Toby uses pathos to show everyone that what happened was completely wrong and that we should fight back. He uses pathos to connect with his fans and listeners by believing freedom is something you have to fight for. He tries to explain that there is no reason why we should be anti-war by saying, “There’s a lot of men dead, so we can sleep in peace at night, when we lay down our head.”(Lines 5-7) He believes that if we did not have people fighting for us, then we would not be able to sleep with peace and our world would be completely different. While I agree on Toby's view on peace and war, I do not believe that it is the only reason to be "anti-war." While, people die everyday fighting, just so we can live one more day with freedom, we have to make sure that the war we are fighting is one worth fighting for. In my opinion, the war Toby is talking about is a war worth fighting. The United States is proving to the terrorists that if you mess with us, or threaten us, we will retaliate.


Toby uses aggression throughout his song to prove his points about America. He effectively proves that America is not a country that can be brought down. “Soon as we can see clearly, through our big black eye, man we lit up your world, like the fourth of July.”(Lines 20-22) When using "our big black eye", he is referring to the attacks of the World Trade Center on September 11th. As soon as the President took care of the matters with 9/11, he promptly began working on a plan to retaliate. Toby is proving that we will not waste any time retaliating against someone who has tried to destroy the country we love. We are not a country that is going to forget about something that devastated so many lives. “Hey Uncle Sam, put your name at the top of his list, and the statue of liberty, started shakin her fist and the eagle will fly, man, its gonna be hell. when you hear mother freedom, start ringin her bell, and it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you….” (Lines 23-30) Uncle Sam refers to us as Americans and it is our first priority to bring the enemy down. Their name is at the top of our list and there will be revenge.


In my opinion Toby’s most effective stanza throughout the song is “Justice will be served, and the battle will rage, this big dog will fight, when you rattle his cage, and you’ll be sorry that you messed with, the U.S. of A., cause well put a boot in your ass, its the American way.” (Lines 33-40)This shows exactly how Americans retaliate. When we fight back, we attack strong with our sizeable and well-built military and hard with our abundance of ammunition, never holding back or showing weakness. When listening to this stanza, I feel that it gives off a certain vibe that gives Americans the feeling of pride. They become proud of their country and the actions it has taken to fight off terrorism.

The song, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” is very effective in summarizing the all around American view toward the war and how we have reacted. This song significantly shows the American people’s determination to protect all the main things our forefathers fought for and the founding principles of our country. It is truly the national anthem for the tragedy that was bestowed upon us and the continuous aftermath.