25 Essential Songs About America for Your July 4th Weekend Listening

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Neil Diamond – “America”

Neil Diamond is cheesy. But sometimes America is cheesy, and that’s okay. The Jewish Elvis performed this song as the closer to his 1980 film remake of The Jazz Singer, and you can’t deny the pulsing synth and drums makes you want to pump your fist like a middle-aged American woman at, well… a Neil Diamond concert. A truly American phenomenon.

All-American lyrics: “Got a dream to take them there / They’re coming to America / Got a dream they’ve come to share / They’re coming to America”

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Chuck Berry – “Back in the U.S.A.”

Guitar whiz Chuck Berry pioneered rock ‘n’ roll, and, as we established before, rock ‘n’ roll is America. Ergo Chuck Berry is America? This 1959 smash hit saluted all things late-’50s Americana: drive-ins, jukeboxes, burgers, highways, and whatnot.

All-American lyrics: “Looking hard for a drive-in, searching for a corner café / Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day / Yeah, and a jukebox jumping with records like in the U.S.A.”

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John Mellencamp – “Pink Houses”

Perhaps no one does the Middle America mythologizing as well as John Mellencamp (née Cougar), and this 1984 hit serves as an iconic ode to the simple things that make America feel unique — stubborn dreamers, t-shirts in the summer, interstate highways, bills to pay, etc. It’s the everyman song that has been used at countless political rallies (mostly Democratic, lest Mellencamp get mad at you) and makes you want to crack open a cold one, put on a beat-up pair of Levis, and “suck on a chili dog.”

All-American lyrics: “Oh, but ain’t that America / For you and me / Ain’t that America / Something to see, baby / Ain’t that America / Home of the free, yeah / Little pink houses / For you and me”

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Prince – “America”

Prince himself is an essential part of American legacy — “A wee man of ambiguous ethnicity from Minneapolis is the greatest musician the world has ever known,” explains writer Mollie Hemingway — and in 1985 he wrote a funk-rock protest song about the oft-ignored underbelly of the country we all love. At the time, Prince was warning against prioritizing militarism over taking care of our own — a theme that comes up often in American rock music.

All-American lyrics: “America, America / God shed His grace on Thee / America, America / Keep the children free”

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Trey Parker & Matt Stone – “America, Fuck Yeah!”

The best.

All-American lyrics: “Sushi / Fuck yeah / Taco Bell / Fuck yeah”

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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.