Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” has long been a staple of naturalization ceremonies for immigrants to the United States, but John Oliver thinks it’s time for a change. So, will the help of Will Ferrell, he’s created an alternative.
To close out his show on Sunday night, Oliver reflected on his own immigration process to the U.S., which indeed ended with a music video for Greenwood’s song. The presence of it got Oliver curious, so he dug into the details of how it came to be a piece of the ceremony.
As it turns out, the government began using it on their own, and when Greenwood found out, his team forced the USCIS into a settlement deal that now sees the singer get $700 a year for use of the song. Naturally, Oliver mocked the move, and most of Greenwood’s attempts to monetize, well, everything, including attempting to trademark the phrase “God Bless the USA.”
Oliver was particularly amused by Greenwood releasing a version of the song for Canada, in which he didn’t really change any lyrics of the song beyond the ones that referenced America.
“All of this is to say, for multiple reasons, I’d argue Lee Greenwood’s song should never again be played at citizenship ceremonies, because they deserve one genuinely unique to this country,” Oliver said.
“A song that celebrates the nation new Americans are about to join, and the process that they’ve been through, while also not soft-pedaling some hard truths about it.”
The good news is, Oliver had a song at the ready, and promised not to charge $700 for it — in fact, he offered to pay the government $701 to replace Greenwood’s song with it. And Will Ferrell lent his voice to it.
“You studied hard,” Ferrell sings. “You did your best. Filled out the forms, and passed the test. Now you’re part of a land that’s so God blessed, and starting today, you’re American.”
As the song continues, Ferrell sings of corn dogs and apple pie, but also of the country’s “real big problems,” like televangelists, fossil fuels “and Ted f–kin’ Cruz.”
You can watch the song in the video above.
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” airs Sundays at 11 p.m. ET on HBO.
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