It’s impossible to live in the 50 states and not know about schoolhouse classics like “The Star Spangled Banner” and “This Land Is Your Land,” but those famous patriotic odes aren’t the only way to give a musical shout-out to America.
To celebrate the 4th of July, we’ve hand-selected 20 songs, each of which talks about this big, great, complicated country of ours in its own special way — from the critical (Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”) to the full-on celebratory (Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the U.S.A.”).
Check ’em out below.
Miley Cyrus, “Party in the U.S.A.”
Key “America” Lyric: “And I got my hands up/ They’re playin’ my song/ I know I’m gonna be ok/ Yeah, it’s a party in the USA.”
Bruce Springsteen, “Born In The U.S.A.”
Key “America” Lyric: “Nowhere to run/ ain’t got nowhere to go/ Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.”
Lil Wayne, “God Bless Amerika”
Key “America” Lyric: “My country tis of thee/ Sweet land of kill em all and let em die/ God Bless America/ this ol’ godless America.”
Green Day, “American Idiot”
Key “America” Lyric: “Don’t want to be an American idiot/ One nation controlled by the media/ Information age of hysteria/ It’s calling out to idiot America.”
Bonnie McKee, “American Girl”
Key “America” Lyric: “I wanna see all the stars and everything in between/ I wanna buy a new heart out of a vending machine/ ‘Cause It’s a free country so baby we can do anything (Whoa).”
Simon and Garfunkel, “America”
Key “America” Lyric: “Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, they’ve all gone to look for America.”
Madonna, “American Life”
Key “America” Lyric: “I’d like to express my extreme point-of-view/ I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew/ I’m just living out the American dream/ And I just realized that nothing is what it seems.”
Young the Giant, “Amerika”
Key “America” Lyric: “I’ve been looking for so long/ In Amerika/ Throw my hands in the air!”
Tom Petty, “American Girl”
Key “America” Lyric: “Well, she was an American girl/ Raised on promises/ She couldn’t help thinkin’ that there was a little more to life somewhere else.”
Brad Paisley, “American Saturday Night”
Key “America” Lyric: “It’s a French kiss, Italian ice/ Margaritas in the moonlight/ Just another American Saturday night.”
Demi Lovato, “Made In The U.S.A.”
Key “America” Lyric: “Our love was made in the U.S.A./ Made in the U.S.A.”
Lana Del Rey, “American”
Key “America” Lyric: “Be young, be dope be proud/ Like an American.”
Eminem, “White America”
Key “America” Lyric: “The women and men who have broke their necks for the freedom of speech the United States Government has sworn to uphold, or (Yo’, I want everybody to listen to the words of this song) so we’re told…”
Lenny Kravitz, “American Woman”
Key “America” Lyric: “I don’t need your war machines/ I don’t need your ghetto scenes/ Colored lights can hypnotize/ Sparkle someone else’s eyes/ Now woman, get away/ American woman, listen what I say.”
John Mellencamp, “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”
Key “America” Lyric: “Some are black and some are white/ Ain’t to proud to sleep on the floor tonight/ With the blind faith of Jesus you know that they just might/ be Rockin’ in the U.S.A.”
Toby Keith, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”
Key “America” Lyric: “Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage/ This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage/ And you’ll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A./ ‘Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass, it’s the American way.”
James Brown, “Living in America”
Key “America” Lyric: “Living in America — hand to hand, across the nation Living in America/ Got to have a celebration/ You might not be looking for the promised land, but you might find it anyway.”
Shea Diamond, “American Pie”
Key “America” Lyric: “Just want my piece of the American pie/ Got your slice, where is mine/ Lick my fingers on this thing called life.”
Don McLean, “American Pie”
Key “America” Lyric: “So bye-bye, miss American pie/ Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.”
Kim Wilde, “Kids in America”
Key “America” Lyric: “Outside Suburbia’s sprawling everywhere/ I don’t want to go baby/ New York to East California/ There’s a new wave coming I warn you/ We’re the kids in America.”
