Happy 233rd birthday to the greatest country in the history of the planet. How many songs mention the Fourth of July? You'd think there'd be a bunch, given rock & roll's fascination with summer, but I can't think of that many:
"Saturday in the Park," by Chicago
"Good," by Better than Ezra
"4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)," by Bruce Springsteen (doesn't actually mention the Fourth of July, but whatever)
There are also songs called "Fourth of July" by U2, Soundgarden, Mariah Carey, X, and Galaxie 500.
3 comments:
Well, there's the jump-rope rhyme, Miss Mary Mack, where MMM borrows 50 cents from her mother to watch an elephant jump so high over a fence that he reaches the sky and doesn't come back (back back) until the Fourth of July (-ly, -ly).
Also, "Jack Straw" by the Grateful Dead: "Leaving Texas, fourth day of July..."
And "Tears of Rage": "We carried you in our arms on Independence Day."
I guess George M. Cohan doesn't get his today.
The above-mentioned jump-rope rhyme is used in the R&B oldie "Walkin' the Dog," recorded by too many people to list.
The Beach Boys also did kind of a mournful song called "Fourth of July," one of their bag of semi-legendary outtakes (it finally showed up on the "Good Vibrations" box set.)
And -- feel free to smack me for this -- Billy Joel's "Stop in Nevada," from the "Piano Man" album, with the line: "With some money in her pocket she's a rocket on the Fourth of July."
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