AARP Hearing Center
12 Songs That Celebrate America
Patriotic ballads that will grace your Fourth of July festivities
Mark Horton/WireImage
The United States is approaching a milestone birthday — the big 2-5-0—in just two years. As we get ready to celebrate all the best things about our country on July 4, its 248th birthday, we look back at the songs that point to reasons we are grateful to be Americans:
More Ways to Benefit
- Related Benefit 1
- Related Benefit 2
- Related Benefit 3
- Related Benefit 4
- Related Benefit 5
1. God Bless the U.S.A. – Lee Greenwood - 1984
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
The journey for Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” took many decades. Greenwood was first influenced by the Sousa marches of his high school band, Elvis Presley’s patriotic medleys, and the veterans’ sacrifices he learned about while helping the USO in high school.
While the song didn’t initially strike music producers as single-release material, it has become recognized as an anthem for American pride during national crises, such as September 11, Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf War.
2. America the Beautiful – Katharine Lee Bates – 1882
America, America may God thy gold refine
'Til all success be nobleness
And every gain divined
Katharine Lee Bates, an English literature professor at Wellesley College, penned “America the Beautiful” lyrics during a lecture trip to Colorado in 1893. After an arduous journey to the top of Pikes Peak, she was inspired by the expansive view she took in, with fertile countryside and never-ending sky.
The poem first appeared in a weekly newspaper called The Congregationalist on July 4, 1895, with final edits and additions finally being completed in 1913. It was originally sung to the tune “Auld Lang Syne,” but the version we’re most familiar hearing was composed in 1882 by Samuel Augustus Ward, a New Jersey church organist.
This version was sung by the great Ray Charles during an appearance on the Dick Cavett Show recorded on September 18, 1972.
3. American Pie - Don McLean – 1971
I started singin', bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin', “This'll be the day that I die”
Don McLean’s “American Pie” became the longest song to reach number one for 49 years (before Taylor Swift broke it). It was inspired by the plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” on February 3, 1959: “the day the music died.”
McLean was a newspaper delivery boy at the time and Buddy Holly was his idol. After becoming friends with Pete Seeger, McLean developed the storytelling and sing-along style the hit is known for.
4. Living in America – James Brown – 1985
Hand in hand, across the nation
Living in America
Got to have a celebration
Composed by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight, James Brown’s “Living in America” is often associated with the “Rocky IV" movie, where it is played during undefeated champion Apollo Creed’s entrance into the ring. The song won Brown a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal performance in 1987.
5. Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver – 1976
Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Almost every American road tripper has blared this one with the windows down. This song was originally going to be sold to Johnny Cash, but Denver fell in love with it after working with fellow songwriter Bill Danoff and wife Taffy Nivert on the lyric.
As the unofficial state song of West Virginia, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” has been played at the start of every West Virginia University football game since 1972 and has been used in the state’s tourism campaigns. It was, however, initially inspired by Maryland.
6. Ballad of the Green Berets – Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler – 1966
Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret
Sadler, a serving Green Beret, wrote the song in hospital in early 1965, while recovering from a severe injury from a punji stick sustained while he was a combat medic in Vietnam. It was originally recorded for military distribution but was later released by RCA, becoming a Billboard Number 1 single for 1966 and is one of the few pro-military songs from the Vietnam era.
Sadler died aged 49 in 1989 after being shot in the head during an apparent robbery while sitting in a cab in Guatemala City. One of his sons went on to serve in the Army as a military intelligence officer.
7. American Heart - Faith Hill – 2012
It bleeds, it scorns, but it shines when times get hard
You can't break an American heart
Faith Hill almost overlooked “American Heart” as she prepared for her seventh album. Written by Jonathan Singleton and Jim Beavers, the song tells the struggles that Americans can face as they work to achieve their dreams. She released the song in September 2012 on Twitter—the first time a country song had made its main debut on social media.
8. Ragged Old Flag – Johnny Cash – 1974
So we raise her up every morning
We take her down every night
We don't let her touch the ground and we fold her up right
Written by Cash, the song was the title track for an album released in 1974. It was a time of political turmoil and Cash wanted to remind people of America’s greatness.
An outspoken patriot, Cash later explained, “‘Ragged Old Flag’ … came out faster than I could write it down. You’ve heard of people who write songs in ten minutes. ‘Ragged Old Flag’ was one of those songs.”
9. American Flag on the Moon – Brad Paisley – 2014
Whenever anybody says there's anything we can't do
I mean after all, there's an American flag on the moon
The song was inspired by the curiosity of Paisley’s son, then five, about the flag left by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
Paisley wanted to remind Americans to dream big–even if it seems impossible. The song was launched at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
10. Color Me America – Dolly Parton – 2003
I am red and white and blue
These are colors that ring true
Dolly Parton wrote “Color Me America” for a post-9/11 nation. The song encourages listeners to be proud of their country and calls for justice for all. It featured in her 40th album, titled “For God and Country,” part of a career that’s surpassed five decades.
Parton, 78, recently announced she was pausing her career to stay at home and look after her husband of 58 years Carl Dean, who is battling Alzheimer’s.
11. Living in the Promiseland -Willie Nelson – 1986
Living in the promiseland
Our dreams are made of steel
The prayer of every man
Is to know how freedom feels
The song, from his album “The Promiseland,” became Nelson’s twelfth Number 1 single. Written by David Lynn Jones, the lyric reminds listeners of the importance of lending a helping hand to anyone beginning a new life in America.
12. Star Spangled Banner – Francis Scott Key – 1814
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
No Independence Day gathering would be complete without the song that became our national anthem on March 3, 1931.
It was written by Francis Scott Key, who was inspired by the the American flag raised above Fort McHenry in Baltimore after a victory over British forces in the War of 1812.
The anthem has been performed before sporting events in America ranging from high school sports to the Super Bowl.. Whitney Houston’s rendition for the 1991 Super Bowl, during the Gulf War, remains one of the most recognizable.
Houston said in an interview at the time, “It was hope, we needed hope, you know, to bring our babies home and that's what it was about for me. That’s what I felt when I sang that song, and the overwhelming love coming out of the stands was incredible.
AARP Membership
Join AARP for only $15 per year with automatic renewal. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of benefits, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP The Magazine.
More From AARP