'God Bless the U.S.A.': The (apparently) apolitical origins of a GOP inauguration favorite

It's been more than three decades since country music star Lee Greenwood released "God Bless the U.S.A.," one of the most recognizable patriotic anthems in all of pop music. In the time since, the song has become a staple of political rallies, military ceremonies and sporting events, and has enjoyed multiple resurgences in popularity, earning platinum certification in 2016.

Greenwood has been a go-to musical guest for Republican politicians and candidates. In addition to numerous campaign appearances, Greenwood has played his signature hit at three Republican presidential inaugurations: Ronald Reagan's in 1985, George H.W. Bush's in 1989 and George W. Bush's in 2001.

President-elect Donald Trump's will be his fourth.

Greenwood, 74, is scheduled to perform Thursday evening on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at an event called the Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration, following a speech by Trump.

The singer was in Washington this week, where he conducted a sound check for Thursday's concert and met with the president-elect at a pre-inaugural dinner. Trump tweeted a photo of them at the event, along with the hashtag #GodBlessTheUSA. "It's an honor sir!" Greenwood replied.

He tweeted: It's an honor sir! God bless you and God Bless the USA!

Despite his warm relationship with Republican leaders, Greenwood insists he never intended for "God Bless the U.S.A." to be a political song. In an interview with Rolling Stone this week, Greenwood called himself a "conservative Christian," but said his forthcoming performance was a "tribute to the change in power," not Trump himself.

He made similar remarks in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, saying it was a "mistake" for other musicians to turn down offers to perform at the inauguration.

"I think it's in bad taste to say no," he told the publication. "I consider it a great honor and prestige of being able to sing the song I wrote in 1983 at the Lincoln Memorial. It will be a wonderful moment for my career, but also for the citizens who will be watching it on television worldwide."

"God Bless the U.S.A.," by Greenwood's telling, did not have political origins.

The song is something of a devotional hymn to the American ideal. It opens with soft keyboards and a twinkling acoustic guitar, as Greenwood sings that even if he lost everything, he'd still be grateful to start over here. "The flag still stands for freedom," he intones in one of the song's lesser known lines, "and they can't take that away."

Then comes the famous chorus: "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I"m free / And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me / And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today / 'cause there ain't no doubt I love this land / God bless the U.S.A."

Greenwood, the son of musically talented parents, said he'd mulled the idea of writing a patriotic song for many years. In "God Bless the U.S.A.: Biography of a Song," a 1993 book he co-wrote with author Gwen McLin, he remarked that the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Korean War and his father's military service had all influenced his songwriting.

But it wasn't until 1983 - some 20 years into a musical career, with two albums, a half-dozen singles and countless concerts under his belt - that the inspiration finally came to him. The song, Greenwood said in his book, was spurred by the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 by the Soviet Union in September of that year. The incident left 269 civilian passengers dead, including 63 Americans. Greenwood was outraged.

"That act was a catalyst, the event that triggered something inside me," Greenwood said. "It was this strike against innocent citizens that actually made me put pen to paper."

When he sat down to write, he recalled, the song came effortlessly.

"The words seemed to flow naturally from the music, and came out with total honesty," Greenwood wrote in the book. "They were an expression of my feelings of pride. To me, America seemed just like a rookery, a place where we have a chance to grow, unmolested and free."

The song was released in May 1984 on the album "You've Got a Good Love Comin'," and peaked at No. 7 on the country music charts. It was featured at the 1984 Republican National Convention and the closing ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and Greenwood went on to perform at Reagan's inauguration.

From there, the song's legacy was cemented.

"It was because Ronald Reagan became president and the use of that song for the campaign," Greenwood told Rolling Stone this week, though he added "it was not necessarily for the Republican Party, because I really didn't want it to be used politically and still don't."

But the song stuck. During the George H.W. Bush administration, it became a morale booster for troops fighting in the Gulf War, played at U.S. military bases in the region every day at noon, according to a 1993 profile of Greenwood and the song published by the Orlando Sentinel. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who led coalition forces during the conflict, was said to be a fan. And when Operation Desert Storm ended, the song was featured in a nationally televised celebration welcoming the troops home, the Sentinel reported.

Greenwood described the moment in the book: "As this final chorus rang out again, taking over the evening, everyone rose to their feet again, searching for the word, their arms still reaching upwards. The moment glowed with their exhilaration to be cheering an American triumph."

The song re-entered the charts again after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, peaking at No. 16, according to Billboard.

Greenwood tweeted: What a thrill to sing at the Lincoln Memorial! Sound check complete! #godblesstheusa #lincolnmemorial pic.twitter.com/N7dq0jYDHP

On Thursday, Greenwood will once again perform "God Bless the U.S.A." before a national audience, though this year's invitation may not carry quite the same distinction as inaugurations past. Trump's transition team has been ridiculed for failing to draw major celebrity talent to his inaugural events, instead tapping lesser known artists to perform.

Even Trump's fellow Republicans have lamented that they can't seem to attract more popular musical names. As Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist, told The Washington Post ahead of last summer's convention: "Republicans have always had a terrible star-power deficit - the Democrats have the latest hip-hop or pop act and we've got Lee Greenwood and the Oak Ridge Boys."

(The Oak Ridge Boys, a famous country vocal group from Tennessee, are indeed Trump fans and longtime Republican supporters, but they will not be playing the inauguration.)

Greenwood, for his part, seems as excited as ever.

"This is going to be awesome," he told Rolling Stone. "It's a thrill for us to do that and be involved in the festivities."