Godsmack‘s latest studio album, ‘Lighting Up the Sky’ arrived last month, and the band’s lead singer Sully Erna recently sat down with Loudwire Nights’ Kevin Vargas to discuss the song, ‘Red, White and Blue’ from their new record. Erna said the song reflected his pride in the United States despite its faults.
Disclosing the inspiration behind the song, the vocalist explained that ‘Red, White and Blue‘ was about the tumultuous times his country and the rest of the world have gone through in recent years. So, Erna intended to address the current state of affairs in the world after exploring different themes in their other songs.
According to the rocker, the song is a reflection of how he appreciates the country he lives in, despite its shortcomings, and how it helped him become a better person. He was actually frustrated with the extremist views on both sides of the political spectrum, and therefore, he decided to express his pride in his country, its flag, its constitution, and its freedom of speech.
Here is what Sully Erna said about the idea behind ‘Red, White and Blue’:
“Listen, we’ve lived through some crazy years recently, and that song is the next piece of the puzzle. As a person, we’ll just call it a third person for now, even though we all know that these songs are written about things that have affected me on a personal level, good or bad. After we’ve talked about finding love in your life, I wanted to talk about the times that we’re living in as we go through some of this stuff.
And it really is a reflection of realizing what a great country we live in and how proud we are of it, even through our faults. It’s part of our history, and it’s helped us grow to be better people. With the exception of the extremists, there are way more good people on this planet than there are bad. It’s just that bad people bark a little louder, and we stay a little bit more reserved and quiet because we’re human and humane.
Part of it was in my frustration of being tired of hearing either side, the extremists on either side of the fence here, but I’m just making a statement to say I’m proud of this country, I’m proud of the flag, I’m proud of what it represents, I’m proud of the constitution, and I don’t think it’s fair for anyone to play God and silence us when what we hold pride to is our freedom of speech.”
So, Godsmack’s fresh track certainly does have patriotic connotations, as Sully Erna also expressed in a recent chat. Although the singer admits that the United States has flaws and sometimes struggles to remain faithful, he is still proud of his country.
