Country Star Brad Paisely Changes 'American' Song Lyrics to Be Pro-Ukraine

Country star Brad Paisley appeared to change the lyrics of his song "American Saturday Night" to show support for Ukraine while performing at a state dinner at the White House on Thursday.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter on Thursday, Emily Goodin of the Daily Mail wrote, "Brad Paisley changed the lyrics of 'American Saturday Night' to include a 'Ukrainian flag hanging behind the bar' - earning him cheers from the state dinner crowd."

In the video, Paisley can be heard singing, "She's got Brazilian leather boots on the pedal of her German car. There's a Ukrainian flag hanging up behind the bar. Yes, she's going 'round the world tonight, but she ain't leavin' here. She's just going to meet her boyfriend down at the street fair. And it's a French kiss, Italian ice, Spanish moss in the moonlight."

The original lyrics of the 2009 song replaced by Paisley with the Ukraine reference are "Listenin' to The Beatles singin' 'Back in the USSR.'"

When Paisley swapped out the lyrics during his performance, many in the crowd were heard cheering and clapping. The state dinner was held in honor of Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto and his wife, first lady Rachel Ruto.

Newsweek reached out to representatives for Paisley via an email form for comment on Friday.

Paisley has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since the war with Russia began in February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a "special military operation" in the neighboring nation. The singer is an ambassador for Ukraine's United24 fundraising campaign.

In April 2023, Paisley traveled to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators. There, he performed a Ukrainian-language folk song in front of destroyed Russian military equipment in Mikhailovsky Square. Paisley also sang an acoustic version of his single, "Same Here," which is about supporting Ukrainians from afar. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky guests on the song in a spoken word portion.

Paisley told The Washington Post after the trip that he spoke with Zelensky for the first time in person and said, "I had a great, 45-minute talk with him—we discussed everything we could think of and really got into the details of who we are, and our families. It was a really eye-opening thing."

Over the course of the war, the United States has continued to support Ukraine, with the Biden administration providing the country with different military and economic aid packages. Last month, Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, accused the U.S. Congress of "not forgetting about themselves" amid discussions over a new foreign aid bill for Ukraine.

"Whatever the modality of providing this aid, de facto it is about provoking Ukraine into further hostilities down to the last Ukrainian, putting guaranteed money in the pockets of the U.S.," Peskov said last month. "No matter what anyone says, the Americans are not forgetting about themselves."

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