This song is not patriotic, at least not in the way the Battle Cry Of Freedom, which it references, is. True the song ends with the "rally round the flag, glory hallelujah", but given the context of the song, he's being ironic when singing this. When Lincoln delivered the speech quoted at the start of the song (1838), the United States was young and untested, but also it was a time of promise. America could be anything then. Yes, evils like slavery did exist then and the horrors of the Civil War were to come, but the idea of the country was still new and people like Lincoln could wax poetic about its greatness and longevity without just sounding like one of today's pompous cable news pundits. Titus Andronicus sings about there time and there slice of the American dream, and it seems obvious by the way he describes scenes from life in modern New Jersey and New England, that all the potential for greatness America once possessed is now gone. And what's left over is a fairly nihilistic, albeit realistic, view of life (e.g. "Give me the Pine Barrens so I can see them turned into splinters."). Rather than preach about lofty ideals like Truth, Justice, the American Way, yadda-yadda, he says he's not looking to change the world, just "looking for a new New Jersey." The only difference one can hope to make in this post-great USA is to do it on a personal level, the people around you and the places you inhabit. Basically, this song is a lament about how the United States went from a nation of great promise to just another big country. When he sings the rally around the flag bit, it's with a complete lack of patriotic feeling, because patriotism has become a sentiment of a bygone era.
I think you're being too literal. The album is about the american civil war and a breakup. As the opening track, this is just after the breakup. Rally round the flag refers, to me, to getting your mates around you to help you through it.
I think you're being too literal. The album is about the american civil war and a breakup. As the opening track, this is just after the breakup. Rally round the flag refers, to me, to getting your mates around you to help you through it.
@CBPodge I disagree that the opening track is just after the breakup. The first two verses -- especially the line "I'm doing 70 on 17; I'm going 80 over 84" -- seem to indicate that this is at the beginning of the relationship, when he moved from NJ to Boston. Depending on his route, the 17 could be the first leg of the journey. The 84 is definitely the last leg into Boston, so the fact that he mentions them in that order suggests that's the direction he's headed.
@CBPodge I disagree that the opening track is just after the breakup. The first two verses -- especially the line "I'm doing 70 on 17; I'm going 80 over 84" -- seem to indicate that this is at the beginning of the relationship, when he moved from NJ to Boston. Depending on his route, the 17 could be the first leg of the journey. The 84 is definitely the last leg into Boston, so the fact that he mentions them in that order suggests that's the direction he's headed.
Also, the line "there'll be no more counting the cars on the Garden State Parkway" tells me he's leaving New Jersey behind.
This song is not patriotic, at least not in the way the Battle Cry Of Freedom, which it references, is. True the song ends with the "rally round the flag, glory hallelujah", but given the context of the song, he's being ironic when singing this. When Lincoln delivered the speech quoted at the start of the song (1838), the United States was young and untested, but also it was a time of promise. America could be anything then. Yes, evils like slavery did exist then and the horrors of the Civil War were to come, but the idea of the country was still new and people like Lincoln could wax poetic about its greatness and longevity without just sounding like one of today's pompous cable news pundits. Titus Andronicus sings about there time and there slice of the American dream, and it seems obvious by the way he describes scenes from life in modern New Jersey and New England, that all the potential for greatness America once possessed is now gone. And what's left over is a fairly nihilistic, albeit realistic, view of life (e.g. "Give me the Pine Barrens so I can see them turned into splinters."). Rather than preach about lofty ideals like Truth, Justice, the American Way, yadda-yadda, he says he's not looking to change the world, just "looking for a new New Jersey." The only difference one can hope to make in this post-great USA is to do it on a personal level, the people around you and the places you inhabit. Basically, this song is a lament about how the United States went from a nation of great promise to just another big country. When he sings the rally around the flag bit, it's with a complete lack of patriotic feeling, because patriotism has become a sentiment of a bygone era.
I think you're being too literal. The album is about the american civil war and a breakup. As the opening track, this is just after the breakup. Rally round the flag refers, to me, to getting your mates around you to help you through it.
I think you're being too literal. The album is about the american civil war and a breakup. As the opening track, this is just after the breakup. Rally round the flag refers, to me, to getting your mates around you to help you through it.
@CBPodge I disagree that the opening track is just after the breakup. The first two verses -- especially the line "I'm doing 70 on 17; I'm going 80 over 84" -- seem to indicate that this is at the beginning of the relationship, when he moved from NJ to Boston. Depending on his route, the 17 could be the first leg of the journey. The 84 is definitely the last leg into Boston, so the fact that he mentions them in that order suggests that's the direction he's headed.
@CBPodge I disagree that the opening track is just after the breakup. The first two verses -- especially the line "I'm doing 70 on 17; I'm going 80 over 84" -- seem to indicate that this is at the beginning of the relationship, when he moved from NJ to Boston. Depending on his route, the 17 could be the first leg of the journey. The 84 is definitely the last leg into Boston, so the fact that he mentions them in that order suggests that's the direction he's headed.
Also, the line "there'll be no more counting the cars on the Garden State Parkway" tells me he's leaving New Jersey behind.