# July 4th Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835 "2009-07-03T18:31:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/1 "2009-07-03T18:31:36Z")
Give this pig ignorant European some clues as to songs to buy for July 4th Picnic. I already have a Bruce Springsteen CD but that’s about it. Suggestions please! ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/2 "2009-07-03T19:10:11Z")
Oddly, it seems the tune most commonly associated with celebrating our Independence from Britain (well, except the anthem) is about [Napoleon invading Russia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture). I guess it doesn’t make any less sense then an egg laying rabbit represent the holiday celebrating the Resurrection. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/3 "2009-07-03T19:17:38Z")
Here’s a [great July 4th](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz4P4OS57Iw) song. OK, the content is somewhat questionable, but still a great song. As always, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/4 "2009-07-03T19:25:42Z")
Quick, download some John Philip Sousa band music. Among my collection (performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony, of all things) suitable for the 4th are _The Stars and Stripes Forever_, _The Invincible Eagle_, _Semper Fidelis_ and _Bullets and Bayonets_. And another Sousa classic just for you, the overture to _The Irish Dragoon_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/5 "2009-07-03T19:26:16Z")
Pretty much any march by Sousa would fit the holiday. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/6 "2009-07-03T20:49:21Z")
[Schoolhouse Rock: No More Kings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofYmhlclqr4) Listening to it now makes me wince a bit, but this is how a generation of kids learned about American independence (and pictured George III). ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/7 "2009-07-03T21:20:09Z")
Yeah, but how bummed would you be if you showed up at a party/picnic and John Sousa was playing all day… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/8 "2009-07-04T02:25:51Z")
OK, it’s a Latin party album, but [Rei Momo](http://www.amazon.com/Rei-Momo-David-Byrne/dp/B000002LIV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246674161&sr=8-1) is probably David Byrne’s best solo effort and the first track kicks things into a high state of fun. The name of the song? **Independence Day**. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/9 "2009-07-04T02:45:39Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Yeah, but how bummed would you be if you showed up at a party/picnic and John Sousa was playing all day… Sousa’s band was the top band of its day and, besides the marches, played an assortment of pop favorites and light classical. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/10 "2009-07-04T03:07:13Z")
My favorite is Shooter Jennings [4th of July](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc7MraaUb8M) SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/11 "2009-07-04T03:17:16Z")
[Yankee Doodle Dandy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlPR97oYOBA) of course!🙂 From the musical _1776_: [He Plays the Violin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbzbUlf19Y) (begins at 1:45) Or in honor or Congress today and in 1776 [Piddle Twiddle and Resolve](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSeoi1fE25A) ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/12 "2009-07-04T03:38:34Z")
X’s “Fourth of July” is great, but I can’t find a video of it. I’m not a country music fan, but Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” is a great song, moreso because all the right-wing radio talkers think it’s a patriotic song. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/13 "2009-07-04T04:14:01Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > … > > I’m not a country music fan, but Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” is a great song, moreso because all the right-wing radio talkers think it’s a patriotic song. Actually, it is only Sean Hannity, and he is an idiot anyway. Thought of a couple more, John Melloncamp [Pink Houses](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q17h75pMQ4) David Lee Roth [Yankee Rose](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il4KVUhSdTA) SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/14 "2009-07-04T04:30:15Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > X’s “Fourth of July” is great, but I can’t find a video of it. GREAT song, and the one I came in here to recommend. Maybe [In America](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW0-Cl100rc) by The Charlie Daniels Band. [This Land Is Your Land](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE) - Woody Guthrie A song about the War of 1812 (the only pop song I can think of about any US-British conflict) is [Battle of New Orleans](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsRK3DNoa_Q) - Johnny Horton. [Johnny Cash did a cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuEWXvhLeRA&feature=related). [American Tune](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE3kKUEY5WU) by Paul Simon is kind of downbeat, so maybe not a great party song. [America](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhlZTj2_i3I&feature=related) - Simon and Garfunkle [Johnny Appleseed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pYwPc6UNmo) - Joe Strummer (has some American themes) [Cadillac Ranch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYmUbIECVzo) - Bruce Springsteen What’s more American than Cadillacs? [Sweet Little Sixteen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85-RWdlReVE&feature=related) - Chuck Berry (Roll call of American cities) [R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzYkjvq-iLE) - John Cougar Mellencamp [American Trilogy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8l2VUo9YzA&feature=related) - Elvis Presley ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/15 "2009-07-04T04:53:57Z")
> [@SSG\_Schwartz](#): > > Actually, it is only Sean Hannity, and he is an idiot anyway. No it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/16 "2009-07-04T05:18:33Z")
[Don’t Fence Me In](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ99V9G-G0c) - Gene Autry [America](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6wo2wpT2k) - West Side Story soundtrack [The Fightin’ Side of Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAFmFsb9XM) - Merle Haggard [I’ve Been Everywhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmFN9C9PVpg) - Johnny Cash (Another roll call of American cities) [Freedom](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA51wyl-9IE) - Richie Havens [Keep on Rockin in the Free World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQccK0F1_iY) - Neil Young [America Fuck Yeah!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZdJRDpLHbw) - Team America World Police Theme (_Extremely_ explicit) [Fortunate Son](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfjU3_XOaA) - Creedence Clearwater Revival (for a different perspective on American patriotism) [American Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyStwRYLzlI&feature=related) - Tom Petty [Surfin’ USA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1FaflUn4Co)- The Beach Boys [America the Beautiful](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Wt4XlXUrc) - Ray Charles [Walking in Memphis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2XsMjQ3XaE) - Marc Cohn [Don’t Stop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8arvEzHsA8) - Fleetwood Mac [Living In America](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHqUipinDyw) - James Brown Plus you can’t go wrong with rockabilly: early **Elvis** , **Jerry Lee Lewis** , **Eddie Cochran** or other early rock n roll: **Chuck Berry** , **Little Richard** ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/17 "2009-07-04T05:25:41Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Give this pig ignorant European some clues as to songs to buy for July 4th Picnic. I already have a Bruce Springsteen CD but that’s about it. Suggestions please! You are off-base, especially if you listen to the lyrics of “Born in the USA.” My friend, we are a BIG FUCKING COUNTRY, so anything you chose would be likely to piss off someone else. (Reflecting on my own Irish heritage.) Okay, it might not be all that surprising. 😉 And note that, as far as us Yanks are concerned, especially us from Chicago, who supported the terrorists in The North far too long, the EU doesn’t exist and yer IRISH, damn yer eyes! The USA produced most of the Pop Irish songs a century ago. I would bet you have heard few of them. No loss; they brought the term "maudlin"ever before imagined. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/18 "2009-07-04T11:52:58Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RssIN3ustUw) Patriotic semi-religious glurge that I love & is probably widely loathed here. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/19 "2009-07-04T15:24:29Z")
I echo **Sampiro** in recommending some George M. Cohen. [Here’s a .99 download of a few tunes](http://www.amazon.com/George-Medley-Yankee-Regards-Broadway/dp/B001C777QA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1246720791&sr=8-6), including Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Others are You’re a Grand Old Flag and Give My Regards To Broadway\*) \*Lyrics, from memory _Say hello to dear old Coney Isle, if there you chance to be. When you’re at the Waldorf, have a smile And charge it up to me. Mention my name every place you go As 'round the town you roam. Wish you’d call on my gal — Now remember, old pal — When you get back home …_ ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835/20 "2009-07-04T15:55:55Z")
**Chicago** had [Saturday in the Park (I think it was the 4th of July)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTFD1C4tVIg) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/july-4th-songs/501835.md?page=2)