When someone becomes a citizen of the United States, their naturalization ceremony traditionally features a rendition of Lee Greenwood‘s “God Bless the USA.” On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, Will Ferrell showcased a potential replacement for Greenwood’s tune.
Host John Oliver spoke about Greenwood’s legacy, poking fun at the conservative country singer’s many career missteps. He then argued against Greenwood’s song being played at the naturalization ceremonies, like his own. “I am intimately familiar with the U.S. immigration process, having finally become a citizen in 2019,” Oliver said. “It was a long, stressful process capped by a moving naturalization ceremony.”
He added, “While Lee Greenwood has repeatedly claimed his song is apolitical, he definitely isn’t… Honestly, I’m not sure why it’s being played at ceremonies at all? Not just contractually or even musically, but because Greenwood’s past remarks about immigrants have been, to say the least, off-message.”
Instead, Oliver proposed a new song, noting that people being naturalized deserve something that is “genuinely unique to this country.”
“A song that celebrates the nation you Americans are about to join and the process that they’ve been through, also while not soft-pedaling some hard truths about it,” he said. “And the good news is, I think we actually have the perfect song, and it’s performed by an actual American treasure. Not only will we not charge the government $700 a year for it — we’re not assholes. We’ll actually pay them $700 a year.”
In Ferrell’s three-minute music video, the actor plays a fictional country singer, singing about American’s pros and cons. “As corn dogs and apple pie/ Fireworks lighting up the sky/ Nascar, rodeo, barbecue/ That stuff’s American/ Now so are you,” he croons before adding, “Televangelists and fossil fuels/ Metal detectors in all our schools/ Private prisons and Mountain Dew/ That stuff’s American/ Now that’s your problem too.”
Joined by a choir, cheerleaders, a marching band, Ferrell then brings the song to a big climax, complete with the Statue of Liberty, a massive American flag, and fireworks. “Fellow Americans,” he wails. “Welcome home.” He also quips, “Holy shit, I just remembered the coup.” Watch here.
Elsewhere on the late-night show, Oliver took aim at Donald Trump‘s recent PR visit to McDonalds, which has also been grappling with an outbreak of E. coli. “An E. coli outbreak was tied to McDonald’s but was still somehow the second most revolting thing inside of one this week,” Oliver said, showing a photo of Trump pictured at the fast food chain’s drive-through.
