US History From a Brasilian's Perspective

This song was made in 1854 by Stephen Foster. During the American Civil War, this song became immensely popular and for good reason. It is song that can almost be said to represent the American population. There were (and are) so many difficulties in life, be it war or the great Depression, or just everyday poverty that if no one were able to rise from the ground and shake the dust off, America would never grow as a nation. This song seems to portray this very rising because at the beginning, the lady singing sounds tired and weary of life’s pressure. But, as the song proceeds, her voice grows stronger and you can almost feel her energy increasing. She most definitely feels for the message she is singing.

This is my 2nd favorite song in the whole CD. I love how you can just listen and feel the energy of her voice and her message bleed from the song into the world. This song teaches me to be grateful for even the smallest of life’s pleasures because so many times in the history of the States, the people of America have been struck down to the lowest possible means. But they stood up and grew from the experience. If anything else, we have endurance. Or maybe it’s just stubbornness. Either way, it has helped us get this far.