American Dreams

American Dreams as seen by Four Americans

The American Dream:a set of ideals brought together by the founding fathers of this great country. Americans have always embraced their rights, opportunities, and equality. Over the 240 years America has been a recognized country, musicians have been using America and the events in the country as inspiration in their songs. Some of these artists include Neil Diamond, Dierks Bentley, Brooks and Dunn, and even Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States gave a very empowering speech about America in Moscow, Russia. Although all of these people have a different point of view about the events of America, as well as during a different time period, their purpose and style remain relatively the
Diamond’s “Coming to America” is set in the Cuban Immigrant Crisis. On this event in 1994, hundreds of thousands of Cuban immigrants came to America in search of jobs and freedom. This is evidenced by the lines “We’re coming to America never looking back again” and “Got a dream to take them there… Got a dream they’ve come to share” ("Neil Diamond Coming To America.") Dierks Bentley’s “Home” was created around the 10 year anniversary on the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, New York (Also known as 9-11). This is evidenced by the lines “Scars, yeah she’s got her scars” and “There’s a way to find better days, I know.” ("Dierks Bentley - Home.") “Only in America” by Brooks and Dunn takes place during and shortly after 9-11. This is supported by the idea that the song talks about dreams and how those dreams can come to a screeching halt. “They might just go back to Oklahoma and talk about the stars they could have been.” ( "Brooks & Dunn - Only In America.") President Reagan’s “ Address at Moscow State University (May 31, 1988)” takes place at the end of the Cold War in 1991. This is evidenced by historical documents and records that state the end of the Cold War and record of Reagan’s speech. Even though each of these people wrote these texts for very different
“Coming to America” has a style that is very upbeat and optimistic, which matches well with immigrants coming to America from their home country to pursue their hopes and dreams of freedom. “Home” has a style that is slow and melodic. This is to remind us what America as a country has been through, which often uses slow and melodic music. “Only in America” has a style that is rhythmic and upbeat. This is used to tell us to dream big. Whether our dreams are successes or failures, it doesn’t hurt to dream. Ronald Reagan’s speech has a style that is short, simple, and to the point. President Reagan chose this style because his speech was being translated from English to Russian by a Russian