Misunderstood 'patriotic' songs for the Fourth of July, from 'Born in the U.S.A.' to 'American Woman'

Fourth of July is fast approaching, and with it, the wave of patriotic playlists featuring rousing anthems, nostalgic rock 'n' roll favorites and all sorts of other songs with "America" in the title. Yet, many of the classic songs that casual listeners assume are patriotic are anything but, from misunderstood anti-war protests to singalong favorites masking darker meanings.

Here's a list of songs with meanings that go deeper than their patriotic or America-centric first impressions.

'Born in the U.S.A.,' Bruce Springsteen

Perhaps the most famous song to be widely mistaken for a patriotic anthem, Springsteen’s famous 1984 single has been used by politicians including presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. Yet, listen past the song’s booming chorus, and its lyrics tell the story of a young American kid sent against his will to fight in Vietnam, only to return home to a country arguably as hostile. Starting in the ‘90s, Springsteen abandoned the song’s cheerful original melody in his live performances, choosing to play a darker, more skeletal acoustic version that better reflects the song’s status as a protest song, which is the version that appeared in Springsteen's Broadway show in 2017 and 2021. − Maeve McDermott

'Fortunate Son,' Creedence Clearwater Revival

If "Born in the U.S.A." is rock ‘n’ roll’s preeminent misunderstood protest song, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s "Fortunate Son," from 1969, is a close second. The song has been similarly treated as a patriotic working-class anthem, but listen past its star-spangled opening lines − "Some folks are born made to wave the flag / Ooh, they're red, white and blue" − for John Fogerty's anti-establishment storytelling about how the poor were sent to fight and die in Vietnam while the wealthy were spared.  − McDermott

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‘Pink Houses,’ John Mellencamp

Back when he was John Cougar Mellencamp, the thoughtful singer/songwriter was moved to write the opening verse of his 1983 strummer after driving past a Black man sitting in front of his house with his cat. “There’s a Black man, with a black cat/Livin’ in a Black neighborhood/He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard/You know he thinks he’s got it so good.” Mellencamp wrote the song to spotlight race and class inequalities. But politicians John Edwards and the late John McCain overlooked the depth of the lyrics during their respective presidential campaigns, opting to focus on the “Ain’t that America” refrain, which Mellencamp intended as pure sarcasm. – Melissa Ruggieri

'This Land Is Your Land,' Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie’s enduring classic may be seen as an alternative to the national anthem, but it wasn’t intended as such when the singer/songwriter wrote it in 1940 after being irritated by radio stations playing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on a constant loop.

Alongside lyrics extolling the redwood forests and Gulf Stream waters, Guthrie’s original lyrics included pointed social commentary that reflected his leftist politics, like this all-too-relevant verse that the singer allegedly left out of his original recordings for fear that Sen. Joseph McCarthy would persecute him as a communist: “There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me / The sign was painted, said ‘private property’ / But on the backside, it didn't say nothing / This land was made for you and me.”

Another unrecorded verse included in Guthrie’s original written lyrics depicts Depression-era America and paints a picture of the country’s economic disparity: “One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple / By the relief office I saw my people / As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering / If God blessed America for me.” − McDermott

 ‘American Life,’ Madonna

No stranger to controversy, Madonna landed in the crossfire not because of her usual forms of titillation (sex, abortion, religion) but politics. Written during the presidency of George W. Bush, the song is dedicated to exposing the shallowness of American culture (“I got a lawyer and a manager, an agent and a chef/Three nannies, an assistant, and a driver and a jet”) and limitless consumerism that ultimately leads to dissatisfaction. “I’m just livin’ out the American Dream, and I just realized that nothin’ is what it seems,” she concludes. − Ruggieri

'Rockin’ in the Free World,' Neil Young

Both Trump and Bernie Sanders used Young's 1989 track during their respective presidential campaigns. Perhaps both rabble-rousing candidates found something to agree with in Young's tale of George H. W. Bush-era disillusionment as he rails against wealth inequality, consumerism and the general decline of American society. The "keep on rockin' in the free world" refrain may be a rah-rah catchphrase that was used at the time of its release to celebrate the collapse of communism, but Young's words are almost certainly intended to be taken ironically, making the song less the patriotic anthem than it may initially seem. − McDermott

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 ‘Independence Day,’ Martina McBride

Yes, there are fireworks, but they have nothing to do with celebrating America. McBride’s tale of an 8-year-old girl watching the physical abuse of her mother by her alcoholic father presents a different kind of independence. “Well she lit up the sky that Fourth of July,” McBride sings, illustrating how the protagonist set her abuser’s house on fire as her means of escape. “Let freedom ring/Let the white dove sing/Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning” is a potent message about personal strength, not patriotism. − Ruggieri

'American Woman,' The Guess Who

Give it a casual listen, and "American Woman" sounds like an ode to the alluring qualities of our nation's female sex. That's certainly not what Canadian rockers Guess Who intended in 1970, with guitarist Randy Bachman calling the track an "anti-war protest song," its titular woman representing a warmongering Uncle Sam in the era of Vietnam. Guess Who singer Burton Cummings disagreed with Bachman's take on the song in a separate interview, claiming the song is less about politics and more about the "dangerous" reputation of its main character. "When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you,'" he said. Whatever interpretation you agree with, the song isn't intended to be complimentary. − McDermott

‘American Pie,’ Don McLean

With so many cultural touchpoints rattled off inside the nearly nine-minute song – Buddy Holly, the Vietnam War, Charles Manson − it’s difficult to whittle the 1970s opus down to a key point. But so often overlooked in the verbose singalong is the weariness woven into the lyrics: “Bye, bye, Miss American Pie … them good old boys were drinking whiskey in rye singing ‘this will be the day that I die.’” Between that chorus and the frequent circling back to “the day the music died,” McLean is spotlighting palpable disillusionment. − Ruggieri

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