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Article Excerpt
Sweet Freedom's Song: "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and Democracy in America. By Robert James Branham and Stephen J. Hartnett. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. [xii, 276 p. ISBN 0-19-513741-8. $29.95.] Illustrations, index.
Americans have been thin king about and singing patriotic songs more in the past several months than in the months or years that preceded II September 2001. What is the purpose of such songs, and how do they make the singer and the listener feel- or even behave? Can a song have meaning and dramatic appeal beyond its melody and surface text, touching something deep and complex? More specifically, can music function as "political persuasion" (p. 4), and can it enable transformations? These are the types of questions that Robert James Branham and Stephen Hartnett consider as they delve into the political, historical, and cultural aspects of God Save the King and, later, America or My Country 'Tis of Thee. The preface explains that the storied history of this song enabled Branham to "explore the promises, possibilities, and compromises of democracy in America" (p. vii). He did not live to see the...
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