"It's America" is a song written by

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records (a ...

and

Angelo Petraglia Angelo Petraglia (born May 5, 1954) is an American record producer and songwriter. He was a member of the new wave band Face to Face and is best known for his work with Kings of Leon. Early life He was born in the Bronx and grew up in Pelham, N ...

and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Rodney Atkins Rodney Allan Atkins (born March 28, 1969) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Curb Records in 1996, he charted his first single on the ''Billboard'' country chart in 1997, but did not release an album until 2003's '' ...

. It was released in November 2008 as the first single and title track from Atkin's 2009 album of the same name.

Content

"It's America" is an up-tempo, backed by

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, in which the narrator lists off various American images before saying that he is proud to live in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The first verse describes his stopping at a

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

stand and considering the stand a "picture-perfect postcard", while in the second verse, he describes watching a news story about people voluntary gathering to rebuild their community after a tornado.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song a mixed review. Bjorke called it "a song that aims to reaffirm what made Rodney Atkins a star". He added that although the message was good, the song's production did not fit Atkins' voice and detracted from the lyric.

Jim Malec Jim Malec is an American journalist and pop music critic known for writing about country music. Malec attended State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, where he worked as an editor for the college's student newspaper and was involved in a cen ...

of The 9513 gave it a "thumbs down" rating. His review criticizes the use of the word "it", asking, "What is the 'it' that supposedly represents this nation of millions?" Malec also said, " But 'It’s America' pretends that the images it presents as fundamental exist in isolation, which simply isn’t true. And it makes no attempt to discuss why those images are personally relevant ��'It’s America' is a symbol not a song, an advertisement not art."

Chart performance

"It's America" debuted at #57 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart dated November 29, 2008, and entered the Top 40 in its third chart week. The song became his fifth Number One on the chart dated May 2, 2009.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs Rodney Atkins songs American patriotic songs Songs written by Brett James Songs written by Angelo Petraglia Curb Records singles