Soundtrack: 4th of July

This is by no means definitive. No one should ever try to impose their musical tastes on someone else, just like politics or religion. This is how I see America's Birthday in the songs around us.

Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen: Despite the countless times it's been misinterpreted, had it's meaning ignored by some idiot who didn't listen beyond the chorus (*cough* 1980's Republicans *cough*), or maybe because of those facts it's always been a "must play" because it doesn't pull any punches and isn't a propaganda song like you'd think based on the name. It's real America, like Bruce.

Pink Houses and Small Town - John Melloncamp (Cougar optional): I grew up in the suburbs, somewhere outside of New York City that some jerks (Long Islanders) still call "upstate" where you could both feel like you lived in a small town with all those down home values everyone's always saying NYers don't have, and also feel like you were in an up and coming area. These songs are for when you want to escape the latter and reflect on the simpler things.

Jack and Diane - John Melloncamp: Isn't this the American dream?

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival: Another song that isn't about how great things are going for people. It's about everyone else.

American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Of course now I'm guilty of exactly what I pointed out with "Born in the U.S.A.". This song is really about a freshman girl who killed herself in Florida... but, all of that gets over looked because of the title and this scene from Scrubs where my crush on Dr. Elliot Reid/Sarah Chalke hit new heights.


American Woman - The Guess Who/Lenny Kravitz: The original Guess Who version is awesome, but they're Canadian so I'm not sure I can include them here. I love the guitar riffs that Lenny Kravitz added in his cover. Either way, it's a great song saluting one of this country's greatest natural resources.

Surfin' U.S.A. - The Beach Boys: Just a light hearted, fun, song about having fun in America.

Keep on rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young: I'm not sure how to describe it. It's socially conscious, depressing and sad if you think about it "there's one more kid who'll never go to school, never get to fall in love, never get to be cool", but I've always taken the chorus to be hopeful. Maybe that's the wrong way to look at it, with all of the world's problems that rock is the way to go, but to me it makes sense.

America, Fuck Yeah! - Matt Parker and Trey Stone (?): It has to be on the list for a simple reason - it's the core of patriotism. Everyone who loves America, someplace deep inside holds onto something about this country that makes them excited, makes them happy, that gives them a reason to stand up and cheer and scream "FUCK YEAH!" whether it's baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, Starbuck, internet porn or whatever.

The Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix/Whitney Houston/Marvin Gaye/an anonymous youngster from your hometown: We have a great national anthem. Watch an Olympic event that we suck and listen when someone else's flag gets raised. There's always something off about someone else's anthem. Hendrix made ours rock harder than anyone else's could ever dream. If it wasn't our national anthem and you heard it, you'd wonder where he came up with those great licks. Whitney sang with pitch perfect precision to give it timelessness. Marvin gave it soul and had everyone grooving along. And everytime you see a child step up to the mic and blow you away, they add their innocence to it. Not bad for a song a guy wrote on a boat almost 200 years ago.