I will be brief and let the music tell the story instead.

Bruce Springsteen, in Dublin.

Harry Belafonte in Sweden, 1966.

The Supremes, a little adventurous, in Paris.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet, “Take Five,” Germany, 1966.

Chuck Berry in London, 1972.

Dionne Warwick, Belgium, 1964. This is incredible.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra in Amsterdam, 1958.

Taylor Swift in Paris, 2024. They know the words. In English.

Melanie, 23, in the Netherlands, 1970, with the sublime Edwin Hawkins singers.

A generation or two before, this is what Americans meant to those who aren’t American: A Marine on Saipan feeds a little boy; a Frenchwoman greets an American soldier; an English family with a Yank at table for Christmas dinner.