Pondering America's Civic Season
Musings on freedom and its many meanings
I’m particularly reflective this Independence Day.
There’s a shit-ton going on all around us and it can distract from the significance of the anniversary. America’s 250th anniversary is also the sixth year of a new American civic season: Juneteenth through Independence Day. The two weeks between the holidays bookend a reflection on the meaning of freedom, and a reminder that freedom and democracy is ever-evolving. This year I’m again reminded that neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution that followed applied to enslaved people, women, immigrants, Native Americans, the list goes on.
Just as we celebrate American independence on July 4, Juneteenth commemorates the beginning of a whole new freedom for Black Americans: emancipation.
Commemoration is important. But it’s important not to lose sight of why we’re commemorating freedom. And that’s the basis for an annotated playlist I compiled.
I’m a big fan of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. I watch it every couple of years for decades. It’s a dramatization, yes. But it’s realistic in the sense that it makes me appreciate the cost of the freedoms I take for granted. I wonder what I’d do in a similar situation? Would I emerge as a leader? Would I run like hell? Would I be 4F like George Bailey on account of a deaf ear?
It also reminds me that while the United States defeated fascism abroad in World War II, many other Americans were fighting for their basic freedoms at home. And on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, too many still continue to struggle to achieve the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A decade before the start of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass’s magnificent 1852 speech “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” explained the stakes of the coming conflict clearly. “Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”1
Juneteenth reminds us that Black Americans had to wait almost 90 years to enjoy the right not to be enslaved. And that’s still nearly a century before the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) grants more specific rights. Rights that are threatened at this very moment.
Learning about the Civil Rights Movement in graduate school and working with veterans of the Movement in my professional career has been one of the most profound experiences of my life. It led me to study history and in that journey, I’ve often wondered what I would’ve done as a southerner in that era. Like when I watch Band of Brothers, I ask would I have confronted or stood silent in the face of racism? Would I have been the white moderate MLK wrote about in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” or would I have risked my life like the Freedom Riders? I genuinely do not know.
What, indeed, is the meaning of freedom?
What is its cost?
Why does it matter that we reflect on these questions?
These are some of the thoughts I had as I put together the playlist. Here’s a bit more about why each tune made the cut.
The Beatles “Revolution” The Fabs released two versions of this track, one of John’s greatest. I chose this one for its killer guitar intro and also its sentimental value: we had the Blue album in our house growing up. “We all want to change the world.” Indeed.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers “American Girl” A kick-ass tune from Petty’s first album, recorded after he left Florida for L.A. Love the Gainesville reference (441/13th Street).
Creedence Clearwater Revival “Fortunate Son” A pretty scathing critique of privilege at the height of the Vietnam War. John Fogerty served in the Army from 1966-68, as the war escalated rapidly.
Derek Trucks Band “Already Free” Title track from dTb’s final album, released in 2009. Derek and Susan formed Tedeschi Trucks Band the following year.
Watchouse “Wildfire” Early in the pandemic, I became obsessed with this song, which touches on stories of the American Revolution, slavery, and the Lost Cause. Killer chord progression, melody, picking, harmony singing. This one hits home for this southerner.2
Staple Singers “Freedom Highway” My first exposure to this was the North Mississippi Allstars, who ripped a great version way back in the day. There are a bunch of Staple Singers tracks that fit on a playlist like this. Dig Pops’s Staples introduction about the meaning of the song. A live cut.
Bill Withers “I Can’t Write Left-Handed” Another spoken word intro, Withers giving insight into the inspiration for this devastating track. Live, once again. An extension of John Fogerty’s sentiment in “Fortunate Son.”
Lucero “The War” The song that inspired the playlist. Every time I watch Band of Brothers, I think of this track. It’s Ben Nichols’s grandfather’s WWII story. The last line of the chorus hits pretty hard. “Preacher, c’mon. Eat your supper with us.”
Bob Marley & the Wailers “Get Up, Stand Up” The ultimate freedom anthem. Marley recorded this a number of times over the years but I always go to the source, on Burnin’, on the final album featuring the original Wailers.
Jimi Hendrix (Band of Gypsys) “Machine Gun” Hendrix served in the 101st Airborne (at Fort Campbell) before being discharged due to an injury. This track is Jimi’s commentary on the war in Vietnam and the fight for equality in the streets of America. Band of Gypsys is my ABBsolutely favorite Hendrix album. Naked and raw.3
Johnny Cash “Big River” Dad had both the San Quentin and Folsom records in his collection so this one brings back all the feels. It’s a continent-spanning journey along the Mississippi River.
Allman Brothers Band “Ramblin’ Man” From 1973’s Brothers and Sisters. Their biggest hit (#2) Don’t overlook the live version from Wipe the Windows, Check the Windows, Dollar Gas, which I wrote about here. Dickey calls out Georgia here, but it’s as much a tale about his Florida roots as anything. A damn good road song.4
Son Volt “Live Free” Trace is a brilliant collection of songs, a true desert island disc for me. Here, Jay Farrar uses New Hampshire’s motto, “Live Free or Die,” to evoke a journey down the open road in the pursuit of freedom.
Kris Kristofferson “Me and Bobby McGee” Dad’s all-time favorite version of his all-time favorite song. He was also a retired USN Commander. So I always think of him on days like today.
Drive-By Truckers “The Sands of Iwo Jima” Patterson Hood’s ode to his great uncle George A., a veteran of the Pacific War. There are some deep truths contained herein. I relate to it in a multitude of ways. My grandfather was part of the Japan invasion force (called off on VJ Day) and was pretty no-nonsense about his experiences.
Jason Isbell “Something More than Free” I could’ve put a dozen Isbell songs here, but I couldn’t resist the meta lesson of the title. I worked construction in high school with the guys Isbell is singing about. There are lessons here about where history has landed us when we’ve made the lives of working people so precarious and economically untenable.
Simon & Garfunkel “America” A quintessential track for an Independence season playlist.
Big Head Todd and the Monsters “Monument in Green” The American West has always held an allure to this lifelong southerner. This song captures that spirit well. I’ve always been partial to it as it reminds me of living out West with my then girlfriend, now wife of 39 years.
Widespread Panic “Hatfield” This is in homage to the legends of local history, a story of a rainmaker that happens to be true.5 Bonus: album produced by longtime ABB associate Johnny Sandlin (Hour Glass drummer and producer of Brothers & Sisters, Laid Back, and Highway Call).
The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” The Monkees hit #1 with this antiwar song, their debut single. Clarksville is home to the Army’s Fort Campbell. The singer is being shipped to Vietnam and is unsure if he’s “ever coming home.”
David Bowie “Rebel Rebel” I just love this bop and the world can always use more Bowie. There are lessons for this moment for being different in the face of adversity. It’s a reminder that rebels fight for all kinds of rights.
Nina Simone “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” A Civil Rights Movement anthem that rings as true today as it did 50 years ago. Tedeschi Trucks Band does a scorching version of this track6, as did the Derek Trucks Band before them.
Gabe Dixon “Bend the Curve” I first came to know Gabe as keyboardist for the Tedeschi Trucks Band. He was pretty prolific during the pandemic and I grew to really respect him as an artist and a human being based on songs like this. It reminds me that we’re all in this together.
The Impressions “This is My Country” It’s impossible to overstate the importance of Curtis Mayfield to the freedom struggle. I quote him often. “Keep on pushing”—a reminder that freedom is a long game.7
The Five Stairsteps “O-o-h Child” There’s just something about this track by former Mayfield protégées the Five Stairsteps. A brilliant song with a gorgeous arrangement. It’s a central part of two movies that are imprinted on my brain, 1979’s Over the Edge—a dismal look at suburbia’s impact on youth, and Spike Lee’s Crooklyn (1994). I feel better when I listen to it, so I offer it up to you.
Ben Harper “One Road to Freedom” Thought I’d bring it home with this reminder from Ben Harper. If pressed to ask what that one road is, I s’pose I’d say it’s whatever results in the most good for the most people.
Thanks for reading y’all. And thank you, particularly, to my paid subscribers for your support.
Lagniappe
Derek Trucks on The Star-Spangled Banner, a somewhat traditional take in honor of his grandfather, a World War II veteran
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Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, “A Nation's Story: ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?’”
Shout-out to Ben & Audrey Beatty!
Also recorded at Fillmore East, NYC.
Dickey just got honored near his old stomping grounds. “Dickey Betts Gets His Highway and a Tribute Concert.”
It’s a true story. See: https://hiddensandiego.com/rainmaker.php.
If you don’t check it out, we may have to stop being friends. I’m serious. It’s incredible. TTB "I Wish I Knew" 6/24/23.
Thanks for sharing the playlist…we will be listening to it today.