I Am a Patriot

As a longtime Pearl Jam fan, I began collecting bootleg copies of their live shows long before they began releasing them officially. Steve Van Zandt's "I Am a Patriot" has been a part of their cover repertoire for just about as long as they've been performing, and was always one of my favorites. But it did not really become what I'd call an important song for me until after 9/11. At that time, I'd only been playing the guitar for a few months, and had barely mastered rudimentary chord progressions and strumming. Yet I knew that music would be one of the only outlets that could help me cope in the days after that tragedy. So I sought out songs that gave some emotional catharsis, but could be played by a novice guitarist. I would sit in my little studio apartment in Cambridge, Massachussetts, play these songs, and immerse myself in something less horrible than the world outside my walls. Two songs in particular became important to me in this way, in those days: Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain?" and this song.

And the rivers shall open for the righteous...
And the rivers shall open for the righteous...
And the rivers shall open for the righteous someday...

I was walking with my brother,
And he wondered, oh how I am.
Said what I believe in my soul
Ain’t what I see with my eyes,
And there’s no turning back this time.

I am a patriot, and I love my country,
Because my country is all I know.
Wanna be with my family,
People who understand me.
I got no place else to go.

I was walking with my girlfriend.
She looked so fine, I said
“Baby, what’s on your mind?”
Said I want to run like the lions
Released from their cages...
Released from the rages
Burning in my soul tonight.

I am a patriot, and I love my country,
Because my country is all I know.

And I ain’t no communist,
And I ain’t no socialist,
And I ain’t no capitalist,
And I ain’t no imperialist,
And I ain’t no Democrat,
Sure ain’t no Republican either,
I only know one party,
And that is freedom.
I am...I am...I am...

I am a patriot, and I love my country,
Because my country is all I know.

And the rivers shall open for the righteous,
And the rivers shall open for the righteous,
And the rivers shall open for the righteous someday...
Someday...someday...