Yes, the starship has descended once more with yet another parody from yesteryear.
This song is a parody of "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship. And my parody uses some quotes from guys like Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (The Declaration of Independence) and of course, The Bible. Read through the Declaration and the Constitution and you'll see both have clear references to God. Just look at the Preamble to the Constitution.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Look at the definition of "blessing" from dictionary.com
1. the act or words of a person who blesses.
2. a special favor, mercy, or benefit: the blessings of liberty.
3. a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.
4. the invoking of God's favor upon a person: The son was denied his father's blessing.
5. praise; devotion; worship, esp. grace said before a meal: The children took turns reciting the blessing.
6. approval or good wishes: The proposed law had the blessing of the governor.
Hmm- a blessing is a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness. Someone has to give the blessing- and only God can give true liberty and freedom!
And it's even more obvious in The Declaration of Independence.
"When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness......"
(And check out how we're gonna pull this Revolutionary War thing off)-
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
Thomas Jefferson acknowledged the sovereignity of God three times here. One of the first things the Pilgrims did when they landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 was to erect a cross and have a minister say a prayer to God for them. In 1954, by an act of the Supreme Court, the phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance- what we all grew up saying most every day in elementary school. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower had the phrase "In God We Trust" printed on all American currency- check your money- it's still there!
Check out the full lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner", our country's National Anthem. Especially look at the last verse! http://hjem.get2net.dk/niels_quist/usa.htm
"Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust'. And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
I love this last verse!!! It's even better than the first (and most familiar) one. That verse just asks the question, "Does the Star-Spangled Banner still wave over America- the land of the free and the home of the brave?" The last verse emphatically answers- "YES, IT DOES!!!!" (Forever may she wave!)
But we must still remember God's Word- "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." (Psalms 33:12)
So here you go........
"We Built This Country"
(parody of "We Built This City" by Jefferson Starship;
copyright Nathan Ludwick 08/15/2007)
Psalms 33:12
Psalms 46:1
Psalms 55:22
Psalms 111:10
Psalms 146
Proverbs 3:33
Proverbs 14:34
Chorus 1: We built this country, we built this country on God alone; Built this country, we built this country on God alone!
Verse 1: Say you don't know me or recognize my face
Say you don't care or know from whence came this place
Knee-deep in brouhaha, "Have not begun to fight"
Through Washington's armies, securing us our rights
Pre-Chorus 1: Monroe, he gave the Doctrine- listen to the men of old
Don't you remember? We built this country, we built this country on God alone!
Chorus 2: We built this country, it's on the money- in God alone! Built this country, we built this country on God alone!
Verse 2: Someone always playing revisionistic games
Truth scares- they're always changing historic claims of faith
Are we just going to stand here? Someone stole God's place
They call us all intolerable, write us off the page
Pre-Chorus 2: John Jay, he says November, Christians are the way to vote
Don't you remember? We built this country, we built this country on God alone!
(Repeat Chorus 2)
Verse 3: I'm just another Fundie in a tired old suit
Atheists got the choke hold (Ohhh!) But we've just got to speak!
We count our money and our sacred honor
Our lives all resting on the God of our fathers
Declaring dependence, 'cause we're of Plymouth roots
Looking for America- Creator gives these truths
(Spoken): "I am sure there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a Divine Interposition in their affairs than those of the United States"
Don't you remember? (Remember)
(Spoken): I should be pained to believe they've forgotten the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them...."Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord"
Pre-Chorus 3: Proverbs 33 in 3rd. chapter, Listen to God's Holy Word
Don't you remember? We built this country, we built this country on God alone!
(Repeat Chorus 2)
Built this country, (Ohhh!) We built this country on God alone!
Built this country, we built this country on God alone!
(We built, we built this country)
Built this country (we built, we built this country)
(Repeat until fade) x7
[Interchange with "Rebuild, Rebuild this country"]
(Fade on- "Rebuild this country on God alone!")
.........................................................................
Okay- there you go. And here's the cool music video to watch and sync up with on Youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFtW0WKT0Tw
And here's the cool midi to sing along with!!! http://www.midmninfo.com/mobile/midikaraoke/builtthiscity.mid
(See Exodus 20:25 NLT for the origin of the blog title.) "My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for The King; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." (Psalms 45:1) [If the last part of that verse is true for me, it's only because of Jesus in me. He's my only good. I am nothing without Him. He must increase and I must decrease.] "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalms 19:14)
Cool song, Nate! From what I've read, not all the founding fathers were super devout, and some may have just paid lip service to the dominant Christianity of the day. But some were devout, and the language of the documents you quoted clearly refers to God.
ReplyDeleteI agree that not all the founding fathers were necessarily devout Christians or even real followers of Christ at all- but some definitely were- and the language of the documents is clear to the country's dependence on God.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kevin. :-)