Thera were a host of nationalist songs produced during the First World War. And each reflects a little piece of American culture during this period. Well known tunes like Over There, with it's chorus "Johnny, Get Your Gun," draws all sorts of allusions to the righteousness of American Civilization.
Irving Berlin's, "Let's all be Americans now" is a great example. Berlin was an immigrant himself. He knew the experience of arriving in a foreign land. When coupled together with the posters we viewed in class last week, you start to get a sense for the pressure that was placed upon immigrants to disavow their former lives.
This was especially true for America's sizable German population. As the war rhetoric sharpened, many German Americans changed their last names (Schmidt to Smith; Muller to Miller). Families refused to teach their children the German language. Many towns went so far as to rename many of their streets and buildings. Symphony orchestras stopped performing the work of Wagner; the Chicago Symphony fired its German conductor.
It has become a powerful myth that previous waves of immigrants willingly and gladly assimilated to "American Culture," which is in turn used as proof that subsequent immigrants should do the same.
bonus track: El Corrido de Texas. You will note that the Texas Corrido comes just after el corrido de la Lavaplatos, which for you non-spanish speakers, is the Song of the Dishwasher.
Irving Berlin's, "Let's all be Americans now" is a great example. Berlin was an immigrant himself. He knew the experience of arriving in a foreign land. When coupled together with the posters we viewed in class last week, you start to get a sense for the pressure that was placed upon immigrants to disavow their former lives.
This was especially true for America's sizable German population. As the war rhetoric sharpened, many German Americans changed their last names (Schmidt to Smith; Muller to Miller). Families refused to teach their children the German language. Many towns went so far as to rename many of their streets and buildings. Symphony orchestras stopped performing the work of Wagner; the Chicago Symphony fired its German conductor.
It has become a powerful myth that previous waves of immigrants willingly and gladly assimilated to "American Culture," which is in turn used as proof that subsequent immigrants should do the same.
bonus track: El Corrido de Texas. You will note that the Texas Corrido comes just after el corrido de la Lavaplatos, which for you non-spanish speakers, is the Song of the Dishwasher.
