Unpatriotic Itchin' Needs a Patriotic Scratch

Annotation

Tommy Cash, born 5 April 1940, in Arkansas, USA, younger brother of the famous Johnny Cash, released the concept album The American Way of Life (Epic Records # E 30860) which sought to pay tribute to different slices of American society - the farmer, the truck driver, the mailman, the entertainer, the family man, the minister, the waitress, the lawyer, and, of course, the soldier. Before each song, he embarked on a spoken-word narrative, which included "The Soldier - Narration" - Cash said that they represented American freedom, a "basic condition of our national life". In fact, Cash joined the army soon after leaving school, stationed in Germany in the late 1950s. He worked as a DJ for the Armed Serves Radio.1 After this narration he moved into the song "Unpatriotic Itchin' Needs a Patriotic Scratch", which took a "love it or leave it" approach - as also seen in the Merle Haggard single "The Fightin' Side of Me", and the Ernest Tubb song "It's America (Love It or Leave It"), discussed above. In this case he posed the question "if our country is mistreating them I wonder why they stay", in reference to the anti-war movement. He viewed them as "a cancer" eating at the American spirit. Cash painted a picture of the peace demonstrators as being "intellectual" and "infidel", in contrast to "the men who fought and prayed" to keep American free. While he noted the constitutional right to freedom of speech, he argued that those rights had been misused, and the American flag disrespected."Love It or Leave It" themed songs: Buster Doss - "Looks Like We're Gonna Fight Again" (1962) Jack Walker - "There's a Boat Leaving Everyday" (1969) Ernest Tubb - "It's America (Love It or Leave It)" (1970) Merle Haggard - "The Fightin' Side of Me" (1970) Tommy Cash - "Unpatriotic Itchin' Needs a Patriotic Scratch" (1971) Leon Rausch - "Hanoi Jane" (1973) Don and Earl - "America, Please Love It or Leave It" John Whipp - "The Flagg" Tommy Cox - "What's the Matter" Sources1Google Books↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: The constitution stands up for the difference of opinion / But rights have been misused with disrespect / Today the USA has got a cancer in her spirit / And she needs the hearts of those that she protects / I'm speaking out against the ones who claimed that they want peace, against the ones who boo our president / Against the ones who want to take but never want to give / Against destructive hands that never built / They open up their intellectual mouth and scoff at wisdom / They nest on eggs of trouble till they hatch / The message that they wave is not the message of our flag / Unpatriotic itchin' needs a patriotic scratch / I wonder how much longer we can proudly pledge allegiance / And stand up when our nation anthem plays / Before the infidel protest that their superior knowledge is embarrassed by our foolish backward faith / Behind the scarps of peace objectors rage against the war / They're free because of men who fought and prayed / If our country is mistreating them I wonder why they stay

About the artist

American country singer, born 5 April 1940 in Dyess, Arkansas ('Six White Horses'); died 13 September 2024 in Hendersonville, Tennessee. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Patriotic · Anti-Protest · Love It or Leave It

In collections

US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]