Danny Gokey Celebrates America in Patriotic Anthem and Declares 'I Love My Country'
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Aug 09, 2024
Pride in America remains near a record low, but singer and songwriter Danny Gokey remains a vocal exception. "I love my country," Gokey told Crosswalk Headlines. In 2003, 70 percent of Americans said they were "extremely proud" to be an American, according to Gallup. But that fell to 54 percent in 2015 and 38 percent in 2022. This year, it was 41 percent.
Gokey released a patriot-themed EP in 2023, Brave, that encourages Americans to celebrate the nation's founding principles. It includes two originals.
The Grammy-nominated singer had grown frustrated discussing patriotism on social media; he told Crosswalk Headlines, "It doesn't matter what you say, even if it's truth, even if it's in love -- people aren't going to accept it. And they can really be offended by it."
Music, though, can unify, he said.
"Music has this way where you can put a truth in a song [and] since it's wrapped in this melody, and in these poetic lyrics, it can kind of break down the walls of defense or offense," he said.
Too often, Gokey believes, patriotism becomes divisive because people focus on the nation's flaws instead of its achievements.
"If I memorialized the bad about my wife, my marriage would fall apart, right?" he said.
"But if you memorialize the good, and you remember the good," he said, then two sides can again find common ground.
"If we go back to the beginning and say, 'Well, what brought us together?' and we focus on that, that's where healing starts," he said.
Brave, he said, includes songs that "celebrate America."
"Be brave, stand up for freedom, stand for truth, don't be afraid," he said. "… Cowardness is not a thing in the kingdom of God. John the Baptist was not a coward. Jesus was not a coward. Peter was not a coward.
"You're still the land I love, though we're a little bruised up."
"I sensed the Lord nudging me to do that," he said.
Gokey recently released his fifth studio album, the 11-song LP Sound of Heaven.
WATCH: Danny Gokey - My America (Official Music Video)
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Terry Wyatt/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
