I Don’t Like to Brag, but We’re Kinda Proud of That Ragged Old Flag

One of the incredible features of a perfect song is its ability to transcend time and move people of all beliefs and persuasions. Sure, there have been great Patriotic diddies and, lord knows, there have been some legendary protest songs, but as Johnny Cash once advised: “Don’t go mixin’ politics with the folk songs of our land/Just work on harmony and diction/Play your banjo well/And if you have political convictions keep them to yourself.”

However, on the night when the military killed a truly unabashed villain, Osama Bin Laden, I’d like to share my favorite ballad about our country.

Cash, one of the finest storytellers of the last half century, creates a rugged old man in a dusty old town and uses him to tell the history of war in America. The music is basic, the lyrics are spoken rather than sung, but because of Cash’s legendary voice and unequaled “steez” (“style with ease”), Ragged Old Flag is a timeless track.

Enjoy Mr. Cash and his wonderful retelling of American history. Say what you want about America, but the cowboy ballad is hard to argue against: Ragged Old Flag

Tags: America, Johnny Cash, Osama bin Laden, Ragged Old Flag

Joey Bien-Kahn has served as sports and columns editor for City on a Hill Press for the last year, winning third place in the California College Media Association for his feature article on Prop 19. J ...read more