‘Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly’

When Tippin’s single was excluded from an album, he later realized it had a ‘bigger purpose.’

Challenger, the American bald eagle, lands on the pitcher's mound before the game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs in 2009. After country musician Aaron Tippin released his patriotic single, the song’s symbolic images of American pride registered with listeners. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

When country singer Aaron Tippin helped finalize the track listing for his 2000 album “People Like Us,” he expected his label at the time, Lyric Street, to have no problem adding a patriotic number to the mix. He shared with music site Songfacts in 2016 that it’s a theme he’s never shied away from.

“I just always try to put something patriotic on my albums. But when we put together the album, for some reason the record label just didn’t think that was something they wanted to do.”