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Jeff Steele Regrets "Mean-spirited" We Want America Back Rallies
Steele was interviewed for White Gospel, a BBC documentary which covered the history of the musical genre which was a huge influence on Elvis Presley. Steele explained the context for the song:
We were in the middle of a moral meltdown of sorts in America. It seemed as though the heat had been turned up and people were beginning to see our society come apart in all different directions. Just a real moral meltdown. And in the midst of that I got this idea for the song We Want America Back. The sermon included in the song's lyrics is widely available on-line; here's an extract:
Something is wrong. Television daily bombards the senses of our nation with the idea that wrong is right, that the abnormal is normal, that the abhorrent is acceptable, and that what God calls an abomination is nothing more than an alternate life-style. Steele recalled that the song "exploded", and that various rallies were co-ordinated:
We played a week in Branson, we'd never been to Branson, didn't know anything about it. And the mayor of Branson comes out in the middle of the stage, and presents me with the key to the city and an official proclamation, and begins to weep while he's presenting me with the proclamation. Now, however, Steele has had second thoughts:
I just finally came to the conclusion that that's not preaching, that's rabble-rousing. That's not preaching, that's bashing. And I never got into songwriting of the Christian sort to be a bully. If I were to write that song again today, I would probably say 98 or 99 per cent of the same things, but I would not write it or present it in what I would call such a mean-spirited or heavy-handed way. We can only guess whether this is a real change of heart or simply a strategic reassessment; the programme featured Steele and his wife Sherry singing the song again, softly and to a piano accompaniment. Easier on the ear, perhaps, but still the same song of Christian dominion - just arranged more in tune with the mood of 2008.
Jeff Steele Regrets "Mean-spirited" We Want America Back Rallies | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
Jeff Steele Regrets "Mean-spirited" We Want America Back Rallies | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
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