Lee Greenwood – 'God Bless The U.S.A.' Video

In 1984, Lee Greenwood released his signature song, and one of the most famous patriotic songs of all time, God Bless the U.S.A. According to Wikipedia, Greenwood wrote the song in response to his feelings about the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a passenger jet that was flying from NYC to Seoul, Korea via Anchorage, Alaska. The pilots had to deviate from their planned route and flew through Soviet prohibited airspace, and the plane was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor. The incident was one of the most intense moments of the Cold War.

Greenwood said about God Bless the U.S.A. that he “wanted to write it my whole life. When I got to that point, we were doing 300 days a year on the road, and we were on our fourth or fifth album on MCA. I called my producer, and I said I have a need to do this. I’ve always wanted to write a song about America, and I said we just need to be more united.” As for writing the song itself, Greenwood wrote that it more or less “wrote itself”, and that the lyrics flowed naturally from the music as a reflection of his pride to be American.

Enjoy these different versions of Lee Greenwood’s patriotic hit song God Bless the U.S.A.!