by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
When you think America, you still can’t help but think American exceptionalism. You can discuss it, doubt in it, maybe even ridicule it, but this idea still remains a part of your consciousness about the world order, no matter which side of the pond you occupy and which socio-political context you identify yourself with. The historical notion of the United States being somewhat destined to play a crucial and unique role in the history of humankind is still there, still a building block of our collective thinking. And as it continues to circulate in domestic and foreign policy of the US, you’ll find it mirrored in plethora of artifacts of popular culture. After all, there’s hardly a phenomenon that has a mass appeal and potential to reinforce (or suppress) certain socio-political consciousness equal to those of popular culture. That’s why there’s certainly a link between this fact and your favorite band praising all things American or giving the notion of exceptionalism a darker and more bitter twist – or both…
All flag unfurling aside, the sense of “American-ness” is reinforced – or debunked – mostly in song lyrics, their rhetorical power laden with larger-than-life stylistic devices. And unsurprisingly perhaps, the message itself changes over time according to the political and social climate of the particular times – as the experience varies from one generation to another.
Take the majority of the 1970s and 1980s Arena Rock scene – the Baby Boomers. Their all-American remedy to post-Vietnam guilt and social issues was supposed to be chased with a generous gulp of infectious melodies and happy-go-lucky attitude. We’ve had Night Ranger’s firm re-assurance that “you can still rock in America” (in spite of what, one could only ask). With Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, we’ve received our fair share of the small-town idealism, bordering on naivety (a mere year after they dared to portray way more disenchanted picture in “(I Don’t Wanna Fall) To The Fire” off their 1985 album 7800° Fahrenheit). And of course, there was KISS – a monument to American exceptionalism, uniqueness and gloriousness, if there ever was one.
“Rockin’ in the USA”, a studio track from KISS’ live album Alive II released in 1977 is yet another perfect extension of their hedonistic philosophy. But – differently from the other stories behind the band’s songs – it couldn’t have happened just anyplace and anytime (in some parallel KISS universe). Penned by the US immigrant and KISS co-founder and bassist Gene Simmons, it’s tied closely to the band’s homeland the lyrical ego of the song returns to, while giving an account of his presumably recent travel across Europe. Each presented country is tied to stereotypes attributed to its respective nation, regarding bad cuisine, overt sexual prowess or other – and each of them is somewhat flawed. The protagonist’s fulfillment in both artistic and personal life can be therefore achieved only by coming back to his own country and “rockin’ in the USA”, the only place where rock music can really thrive.
For the following generation – dubbed Generation X – the larger-than-life myth of American exceptionalism came to a screeching halt. The doom and gloom of the Grunge era was somewhat reinforced – albeit with even more rebellious twist to it – by late ‘90s and 2000s bands, especially after 9/11 and the Iraqi war. Let’s take a look at Green Day’s song American Idiot, an eponymous track of their 2004 album. There is hardly a flavor of exceptionalism to their distorted portrayal of the American nation. The lyrical ego goes as far as to separate himself from the nation he dubs “alienation” and “one nation controlled by the media”, refusing to participate in “information age of hysteria”. Criticizing the biased media severely restricting the individual freedom, he places himself rather on the side of oppressed minorities and constitutes a backlash towards societal changes he finds unacceptable. In “American Idiot”, there is no trace of the American exceptionalism as it gets replaced with disappointment and chagrin with what the nation and the country has to offer to an individual. This in turn results in the song’s protagonist’s distancing himself from the nation and its fundamental beliefs altogether.
But how does the whole idea look from the perspective of a representative of the generation following GenXers, the Millenials…? And better yet, of a foreigner whose “American experience” is constituted only by his consumption of the American popular culture? In the first single off the upcoming Crazy Lixx album Street Lethal (out on November 5, 2021 via Frontiers Music SRL), “Anthem For America”, the band’s singer and songwriter Danny Rexon separates the myth of the American exceptionalism from the context of time and place and replaces it with ubiquitous nostalgia. By symbolic usage of artifacts of popular culture, the value of which presumably deteriorates over time (“Trash corporate radio/Soap opera MTV”), he describes the American nation as “the model of non-conformity” that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a “lost” nation now, the one that’s consumed by unification and pursuit of shallow fame. His tongue firmly in his cheek – but many of his observations accurate – he proposes Rock music as an antidote to the status quo and a way to retrieve the America’s former status as the exceptional and exemplary.
A great song in its own right, Crazy Lixx’s “Anthem For America” gives an interesting Millenial twist both to the slightly forced optimism of the Boomer generation and the bitterness of their Gen X descendants. In Danny Rexon’s rhetoric, America’s status as the cradle of the large part of the popular culture of the twentieth century – the one Crazy Lixx deliberately and delightfully re-enact – is contrasted with the current status quo. The American exceptionalism is still a value but a “lost” one, forgone in the whirlwind of changes caused by corporate culture. There’s still a possibility to retrieve it, though, by means of rebellion and individualism – both utilized in Rock music. Only then can America become the aforementioned “model of non-conformity” again, exceptional in its own right and a paragon for other nations to follow. Funnily enough, this kind of thinking doesn’t fall that far even from John Winthrop’s famous “City upon a Hill”. Not only does this indicate there’s a legacy of both Boomer idealism and Gen X bitter realism to be discussed by the next generation; also, it makes the message behind the Puritan lecture from 1630 and the Melodic Hard Rock song from 2021 not that different altogether…
