Author: brucehhackett

Funny, but it’s still rock and roll to me

Posted on by brucehhackett

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that there are so many songs in the classic rock archives that include the phrase “rock and roll” in the title. I came up with more than 20 off the top of my head, and another 20 or so with just a little digging. These tunes aren’t always solid examples of rock and roll music (B.J. Thomas’s “Rock and Roll Lullaby”?), but the lyrics always seem to refer to the genre in some way, shape or form.

There are songs here that simply demand to be on this list, while others are far less known but crying to be heard, and worthy of your attention. I thought about separating them into two lists, but there’s something appealing about the eclecticism of a random order to a playlist. As always, the Spotify playlist at the end features my Top 20, followed by the “honorable mentions” that didn’t quite make the cut.

Rock and roll on!

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“Rock and Roll Music,” Chuck Berry, 1957

The way I figure it, without songs like this one, rock and roll might’ve stayed under the mainstream radar as its detractors hoped it would. But Berry and other pioneers of the genre were determined to celebrate the merger of country, blues, swing and gospel in the mid-1950s and make it an unstoppable force in popular music. In particular, Berry’s seminal song “Maybellene” was the first R&B/rock song to make the pop charts in 1955, and two years later, this iconic track extols the joys of the musical form and how it offers a contagious, irresistible urge to dance: “Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music, any old way you choose it, /It’s got a backbeat, you can’t lose it, any old time you use it, It’s gotta be rock and roll music, if you wanna dance with me…”

“Rock and Roll,” Led Zeppelin, 1971

“It’s been a long time since I rock-and-rolled, /It’s been a long time since I did the Stroll, /Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back, let me get it back, baby, where I come from…” It had in fact been not long at all (only 15 years or so) between the birth of rock and roll and the release of this rave-up on Led Zep’s fourth LP. One of the best rock and roll revivalist tunes ever, “Rock and Roll” grew from an impromptu jam session kicked off by John Bonham’s drum introduction from Little Richard’s “Keep A-Knockin’,” after which Jimmy Page added a Chuck Berry-type guitar riff. Session pianist Ian Stewart contributed the pounding piano, and Plant later wrote lyrics that paid tribute to the genre to which they all felt they owed a debt of gratitude.

“Old Time Rock & Roll,” Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, 1978

R&B songwriter George Jackson had been writing and producing for the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio when he wrote “Old Time Rock and Roll” as an affectionate throwback to the original rock and roll sound. In 1978, Seger was in the process of recording “Stranger in Town,” the follow-up to his breakthrough “Night Moves” LP, when he heard the Muscle Shoals demo of the song. Recalls Seger, “I loved it, especially the chorus, but I wrote some new lyrics for the verses about not wanting to go to a disco, which struck a chord with the rock crowd. I never asked for a co-writer credit, probably the dumbest thing I ever did.” It reached #19 in UP pop charts and was used prominently in an iconic scene from the Tom Cruise film “Risky Business” in 1983: “I like that old time rock and roll, that kind of music just soothes the soul, I reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock and roll…”

“The Heart of Rock and Roll,” Huey Lewis and The News, 1984

In 1983, Lewis had just performed before a rabid crowd in Cleveland, and as the band drove out of town afterwards, he commented, “You know what? The heart of rock and roll is in Cleveland!” He and his band started formulating the track a week later, but as they began recording it, the record label encouraged him to change the lyrics to include multiple US cities to broaden the song’s appeal beyond Cleveland. He ended up focusing on New York and Los Angeles, also mentioning Boston, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle and Detroit, among others, but he retained his original thought near the end with these words: “Now the old boy may be barely breathing, but the heart of rock and roll, the heart of rock and roll is still beating…in Cleveland…”

“So You Want To Be a Rock ‘N’ Roll Star,” The Byrds, 1967

Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, founding members of The Byrds, came up with this good-natured swipe at the success of manufactured rock bands like The Monkees. “We were thumbing through a teen magazine and looking at all the unfamiliar faces and we couldn’t help thinking, ‘Wow, what’s happening? All of a sudden everyone and his brother are singing rock ‘n’ roll.’ So we wrote “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” to the audience of potential rock stars, those who were going to be, or who wanted to be, and those who actually did go on to realize their goals.” Musically, the tune features a driving 12-string guitar by McGuinn, a relentless bass from Hillman, and guest trumpet by Hugh Masekela. They also added the sound of hysterical teenage pop fans screaming to drive the point home. It peaked at #29 on the pop charts in early 1967.

“I Can Play That Rock & Roll,” Joe Walsh, 1983

After his stint leading The James Gang, Walsh began his solo career in 1972 and had a few peaks and valleys throughout the ’70s and ’80s (“Rocky Mountain Way,” “Life’s Been Good,” “A Life of Illusion”) while also being recruited to join The Eagles. By 1983, The Eagles had disbanded, and Walsh put out “You Bought It, You Name It,” an eclectic collection of mostly original songs, some with his trademark amusing lyrics. The album kicks off with “I Can Play That Rock & Roll,” a quintessential Walsh rocker that has him ruminating on other popular musical styles but not particularly worried whether he still fits in: “Well, that disco thing can sure get funky, all them pretty songs seem too slow, /I like to sit and pick with them good old boys, maybe New Wave’s in, I just don’t know, /When the critics try to analyze the current trend, I just sit back and watch ’em come and go, /’Cause I can play that rock and roll…“

“Rock ‘n’ Roll is King,” Electric Light Orchestra, 1983

Jeff Lynne fashioned Electric Light Orchestra to be a rock band using orchestral instruments, and the group became a huge concert favorite, selling many albums and singles in the process. By 1983, ELO’s career arc was winding down, but their LP “Secret Messages” had one last Top 20 hit, which began life as “Motor Factory” with a different set of lyrics about factory work. Lynne had enjoyed returning to his rock and roll roots on their previous album with the Top Ten single “Hold On Tight,” so he chose to try it again by reworking “Motor Factory” into the revival tune “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King,” which managed to reach #19: “She loves that rock ‘n’ roll, and she plays it all night long, /Aw, that’s all she ever tells me when I call her on the telephone, /She says, ‘Feel that jumpin’ beat, and get up on your feet,’ /She says, ‘Whamalamabamalama, rock ‘n’ roll is king’…”

“It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” The Rolling Stones, 1974

This classic Stones tune was instrumental in precipitating the personnel switch that occurred when guitarist Mick Taylor left and Ronnie Wood took his place in 1974-75. The track was recorded at Wood’s home studio in London, and both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were adamant that the song had to be the group’s next single (and the title for the album as well). “The idea of the song had to do with our public persona at the time,” said Jagger. “I was getting a bit tired of people having a go, all that, ‘oh, it’s not as good as their last one’ business. I think the song is great. The title alone is a classic.” They were chagrined that the song managed only #16 in the US, but frankly, I’ve never considered it among their top-shelf stuff.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” Bad Company, 1979

Paul Rodgers, formerly lead singer for Free in the early ’70s, joined forces with guitarist Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople in 1974 to form Bad Company, who became a significant mainstream rock success for the next decade with four Top Five albums and several hit singles (“Can’t Get Enough,” “Feel Like Making Love,” “Shooting Star,” “Burnin’ Sky”). From the group’s fifth LP, 1979’s “Desolation Angels,” Rodgers wrote this song about the joys of performing rock music to an appreciative audience. Rodgers is often ranked among the better rock vocalists of his era, and he was certainly in fine voice for this track, which reached #13 in the US: “Put out the spotlights, one and all, and let the feeling get down to your soul, /The music’s so loud, you can hear the sound reaching for the sky, churning up the ground, /It’s all part of my rock ‘n’ roll fantasy…”

“Rock and Roll Doctor,” Little Feat, 1974

The late great Lowell George, who formed Little Feat in 1970, wrote or co-wrote most of the band’s songs before and after the lineup was expanded in 1973 to include guitarist Paul Barrere, percussionist Sam Clayton and bassist Kenny Gradney. One of the group’s classic LPs, 1974’s “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now,” is kicked off with George’s sly tune “Rock and Roll Doctor,” which uses the familiar metaphor of how rock and roll is the right medicine for whatever ails you, as long as you see the right person: “Patients come…from miles around…to meet the doctor of soul, he’s got his very own thing, /Two degrees in be-bop, a PHD in swing, /He’s the master of rhythm, he’s a rock and roll king, /If you wanna feel real nice, just ask the rock and roll doctor’s advice…”

“Rock and Roll All Nite,” Kiss, 1975

I’ve never been all that wild about it, but it’s ranked in the Top 20 hard rock songs of all time, so how could I leave it off this list? In 1975, Kiss’s record label insisted they needed to write an anthem that would generate more airplay and sales, so Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley borrowed parts of a song they’d written called “Drive Me Wild” and used some chord progressions from a Slade track called “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” and made it the closing tune for their third LP, “Dressed to Kill.” It didn’t do much when released as a single, but when a live version was re-released later in 1975, it eventually peaked at #12 on the pop charts and became the group’s signature song, serving as their closing number in concert at every show thereafter: “You say you wanna go for a spin, the party’s just begun, we’ll let you in, /You drive us wild, we’ll drive you crazy, you keep on shouting, /’I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day…”

“Rock & Roll Woman,” Buffalo Springfield, 1967

Stephen Stills has written plenty of great rock songs in his career, from “For What It’s Worth” and “Carry On” to “Love the One You’re With” and “Southern Cross,” but one of my early favorites is this delightful track (written about no one in particular, he insists) from Buffalo Springfield’s excellent “Buffalo Springfield Again” album. Between Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay, that band was packed with inventive songwriters, and if only their egos hadn’t gotten in the way, they might’ve stuck together for more than just two years. At least they left us tracks like “Rock & Roll Woman,” brimming over with great guitars and voices: “There’s a woman that you ought to know, and she’s coming, singing soft and low, /Singing rock and roll, she’s a joy to know…”

“I Love Rock ‘N Roll,” Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, 1982

This hugely popular anthem of the ’80s was written and first recorded in 1975 by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker from the UK rock band The Arrows, whose version was heard by Joan Jett when she was touring England with her first band, The Runaways. Jett eventually left that group and formed her own band, The Blackhearts, who recorded their sneering, riffy rendition of the song in 1981, and it ended up holding the #1 spot on the charts for seven weeks in 1982. The lyrics are dated (“Put another dime in the jukebox, baby”), but they describe a universal teen feeling of sexual longing and how rock music feeds it: “I saw him dancin’ there by the record machine, I knew he must’ve been about 17, /The beat was goin’ strong, playin’ my favorite song, /And I could tell it wouldn’t be long ’til he was with me, yeah, me, singin’ ‘I love rock ‘n roll’…”

“Rock and Roll Heaven,” The Righteous Brothers, 1974

Songwriters Alan O’Day and Johnny Stevenson wrote this tribute to dead rock stars in 1973, focusing on Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding and Jim Morrison. The band Climax, who’d had a big hit with “Precious and Few” the previous year, recorded “Rock and Roll Heaven” first, but it failed to chart. The Righteous Brothers, who had broken up after a successful run in 1963-1969, chose to record the song as their comeback single, and it reached #3 in the summer of 1974 with an extra verse that included references to Jim Croce and Bobby Darin, who had both died just a few months earlier. Twenty years later, an updated version (“Rock and Roll Heaven ’92”) was released that mentioned Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Roy Orbison, Marvin Gaye, Cass Elliott and others. Seems like we could keep writing additional verses every year now.

“Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” Rick Derringer, 1973

Derringer had been a member of bluesman Johnny Winter’s band in 1970 when he wrote this tune for Winter’s fourth album. Said Derringer, “The title refers to ‘Rock and Roll’ to satisfy the rock ‘n’ roll that I was supposed to be bringing into the picture, and ‘Hoochie Koo’ to satisfy the ‘king of blues’ sensibility that Johnny was supposed to maintain. So I think it did that.” Derringer then re-recorded it for his debut solo LP, “All-American Boy,” in 1973, and it reached #23 on the US pop charts: “I hope you all know what I’m talkin’ about, /The way they wiggle that thing really knocks me out, /I’m gettin’ high all the time, hope you all are too, /C’mon a little closer, gonna do it to you, /Rock and roll, hoochie koo, /Lawdy mama, light my fuse…”

“I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band),” The Moody Blues, 1972

Leave it to The Moodies, one of more serious-minded bands of its day, to put the importance of rock and roll in some sort of sensible perspective. On the last song of their seventh LP, the #1 album “Seventh Sojourn,” bassist John Lodge wrote some typically cosmic lyrics about the precarious state of society and the planet, suggesting that wise people, not rock-and-rollers, need to address these issues. “So if you want this world of yours to turn about you, and you can see exactly what to do, /Please tell me, I’m just a singer in a rock and roll band…” The track reached #12 on the US pop chart in early 1973, their last appearance here for nearly ten years.

“A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” The Kinks, 1978

It was a period of upheaval for The Kinks in 1977-78 during the making of their “Misfits” album, as bassist Andy Pyle and pianist John Gosling left and drummer Mick Avory was on the fence. Brothers Ray and Dave Davies considered disbanding the group, but as Dave put it, “We got together like we had so many times before, playing Chuck Berry records and having a laugh, and two songs came out of it, including ‘A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,’ which put us back on track.” Said Ray, “That song was a very personal song for me, inspired by the death of Elvis Presley. I created a character who, whenever he feels unhappy, goes off to live in a rock and roll fantasy.” The song ended up reaching #30 on US pop charts in 1978, their biggest hit in nearly a decade.

“Cities on Flame With Rock and Roll,” Blue Oyster Cult, 1972

This fiery track from Blue Oyster Cult’s debut LP, written by guitarist Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser and drummer/vocalist Albert Bouchard, draws a parallel between nuclear war and the powerful force of rock and roll (“Three thousand guitars, they seem to cry,, my ears will melt and then my eyes, /My heart is black, and my lips are cold, cities on flame with rock and roll…”). Roeser said the guitar riff is based on the riff used in “The Wizard,” one of his favorite Black Sabbath tracks. As a single, it failed to chart, and the album also struggled to reach the charts at first, but “Cities on Flame” evolved into a concert favorite. Bassist Joe Bouchard recalls, “I couldn’t believe we were in the studio at Columbia making a rock record. I know we were all tremendously excited to be working on that album, and it sounds like it.”

“Too Old to Rock ‘N’ Roll, Too Young to Die,” Jethro Tull, 1976

Frontman/songwriter Ian Anderson said this song, and the album it comes from, were inspired by a turbulent flight which he feared was not going to arrive safely, and it made him think, “Well, I may be too old to rock and roll, but I’m certainly too young to die.” He then wrote lyrics concerning an aging rocker who refused to change with the times, and made it the centerpiece of a rock musical (never produced).
“The point was that genres of music may go out of style like fashions and fads, but everything eventually comes back around again (like vintage rock and roll),” said Anderson. The song didn’t do well on the charts, but Tull played it regularly in concert for decades: “The old rocker wore his hair too long,
wore his trouser cuffs too tight… /But he’s the last of the blue blood greaser boys, all of his mates are doing time… /Now they’re too old to rock ‘n’ roll and they’re too young to die…”

“Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,” Danny and The Juniors, 1958

This vocal group from Philadelphia are most widely recognized for their 1957 #1 hit “At the Hop” (later covered at Woodstock by Sha Na Na). As a groundswell of conservative radio people began attacking rock and roll as “immoral” and “undesirable,” group leader Danny Rapp penned this tune in defense of the new musical trend. Danny and The Juniors recorded “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay” and watched it reach #19 on US pop charts as the follow-up to “At the Hop.” The song enjoyed a second life in 1978 when it was performed in the pivotal film version of “Grease” by a band calling themselves Johnny Casino and The Gamblers.

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Honorable mentions:

“Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” The Ramones, 1980; “I’ve Got a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heart,” Eric Clapton, 1983; “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” Ian Dury, 1977; “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” Billy Joel, 1980; “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” Peter Paul and Mary, 1967; “Rock and Roll Girls,” John Fogerty, 1985; “Rock & Roll,” Velvet Underground, 1970; “Rock & Roll Band,” Boston, 1976; “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” David Bowie, 1972; “Flying Saucers Rock & Roll,” Robert Gordon, 1977; “Rock ‘N’ Roll Stew,” Traffic, 1971; “God Gave Rock and Roll to You,” Argent, 1973; “Strictly R&R,” Atlanta Rhythm Section, 1979; “Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Music Now,” James Taylor, 1974; “Rock and Roll Lullaby,” B.J. Thomas, 1972; “Rock ‘N Roll Soul,” Grand Funk, 1972; “Rock and Roll Madonna,” Elton John, 1970; “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll,” Ozzy Osbourne, 1981.

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The fireworks are hailing over Little Eden tonight

Posted on by brucehhackett

The title of this blog entry comes from an early Bruce Springsteen song called “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” about a passionate summer romance. But Springsteen has written often in more serious tones about this country and the problems it faces. Most notably, “Born in the U.S.A.,” which some misguided politicians claimed in 1984 as a patriotic anthem, is in fact a painful look at the despair of those sent off to fight a hopeless war and return to more misery at home: “I had a brother at Khe Sanh, fighting off the Viet Cong, /They’re still there, he’s all gone… Down in the shadow of the penitentiary, out by the gas fires of the refinery, /I’m ten years burning down the road, nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go…”

On this long holiday weekend about to commence, as we haul out our red, white and blue outfits, raise the flags and bunting, and ooh and ahh over fireworks displays, there are many songs we’re likely to hear to help us commemorate the birth of our country: Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” Neil Diamond’s “America,” Don McLean’s “American Pie,” John Mellencamp’s “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” Grand Funk’s “We’re an American Band,” The Guess Who’s “American Woman,” and, of course, Kate Smith’s “God Bless America.”

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For my Fourth of July soundtrack here at Hack’s Back Pages, I’m choosing to omit the more obvious ones in favor of mostly lesser-known tunes, not only from decades ago but more recent years as well. These songs pay homage to our natural beauty and our freedoms and blessings but but also point out where we’ve failed and need to make things better.  Once again, popular music is ready and waiting with multiple choices.

 

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There’s a Spotify playlist at the bottom of this column for you to listen to as you read about these 20 featured tracks, plus another ten “honorable mentions” to fill out the program for the holiday soundtrack.

A very happy Independence Day weekend to you all!

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“On the Fourth of July,” James Taylor, 2002

Since his 1969 debut, Taylor has written more than 150 songs on 16 studio LPs, in the process becoming one of America’s most beloved singer-songwriters. He writes lyrics that alternate between poignant and whimsical, ruminating on everything from a friend’s suicide in “Fire and Rain” to the joy he sees in his young daughter’s eyes in “Your Smiling Face.” He used to release an album every year or two but has been considerably less prolific since 2000. On his 2002 LP “October Road,” you’ll find “On the Fourth of July,” which recalls a romantic encounter on a summer holiday: “I fell into you at a quarter to two with a tear in your eye for the Fourth of July, /For the patriots and the minutemen and the things you believe they believed in then, /Such as freedom, and freedom’s land, and the kingdom of God and the rights of man, /With the tiny tin voice of the radio band singing ‘love must stand,’ all on the Fourth of July…”

“American Baby,” Dave Matthews Band, 2005

When George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, Matthews felt despondent enough to write this song the following day.  Its lyrics urged us to remain hopeful and proud, despite the troubling changes in values apparent in the way the country was conducting its war in Iraq.  The track, which appears on The Dave Matthews Band’s fourth consecutive #1 album “Stand Up,” became the group’s highest charting single on the US pop chart at #16 (although DMB had more than 20 Top Five hits on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart).  Sample lyrics:  “I hold on to you, you bring me hope, I’ll see you soon, and if I don’t see you, I’m afraid we’ve lost the way, stay beautiful, baby, I hope you stay, American baby…”

“Living in America,” James Brown, 1986

The one-of-a-kind Godfather of Soul had ruled the R&B charts from the early ’60s through the mid-’70s, and had a half-dozen Top Ten pop hits as well (“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),””Cold Sweat,”), but fell out of favor during the disco and post-disco era.  He had one last commercial peak in 1986 with “Living in America,” which reached #4.  Written by singer-songwriter Dan Hartman and producer Charlie Midnight, the song was used prominently in the film “Rocky IV” in scenes when the over-the-top patriotic character Apollo Creed entered the boxing arena.  Sample lyrics:  “Living in America, eye to eye, station to station, living in America, hand to hand, across the nation, living in America, got to have a celebration…”

“America,” Simon and Garfunkel, 1968

Between the Vietnam War, assassinations, urban riots and general unrest, 1968 was a tumultuous year, causing much angst among the populace about the future of the country. This stunning song is Simon’s attempt to capture that roller-coaster ride of emotions. One critic called it a “metaphor to remind us all of the lost souls wandering the highways and byways of mid-sixties America, struggling to navigate the rapids of despair and hope, optimism and disillusionment”: “‘Kathy, I’m lost,’ I said, though I knew she was sleeping, /’I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why,’ /Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, they’ve all come to look for America…”

“Breakfast in America,” Supertramp, 1979

This intelligent British art-rock band had moved to the US in 1977 following their commercial success here that year, and their next batch of songs reflected a breezy American influence.  The “Breakfast in America” LP was an enormous hit for Supertramp — it was perched at #1 for six weeks in the summer of 1979.  The title track (which stalled at #62 compared to the other three Top Ten hits from the LP) is about a poor British boy who fantasizes about visiting the US but lacks the money to do so:  “Take a jumbo across the water, like to see America, see the girls in California, I’m hoping it’s going to come true, but there’s not a lot I can do…”

“This is Not America,” Pat Metheny Group with David Bowie, 1985

In the 1985 spy film “The Falcon and the Snowman,” Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton play young Americans who sell secrets to the Soviets.  In one scene when they are beaten and tortured while in custody, they protest, “We are Americans!”  The response: “This is not America.”  The song, a collaborative effort by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and the late great David Bowie, examines how our rights and privileges are often taken for granted until they disappear when on foreign soil:  “There was a time, a wind that blew so young, this could be the biggest sky, and I could have the faintest idea, for this is not America, this is not America…”

“I Love American Music,” Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, 2013

This eclectic band from Eugene, Oregon, has specialized in swing and ska music since the early ’90s.  While they have reached the mainstream pop charts only once, with their “Zoot Suit Riot” single and album in 1997, the group has been one of the hardest working touring bands in the nation for many years.  From their 2013 LP “White Teeth, Black Thoughts” comes the single “I Love American Music,” which celebrates the diversity of musical styles you can hear as you travel around this country:  “When the lights go down and my scales stop showin’, I’ll smash my fingers down on the only truth that’s still worth knowin’, play it, play it again Sam, I want American music, play it, play it again Sam, I need American music…”

“Goodnight America,” Mary Chapin Carpenter, 2004

Although she has largely escaped the attentions of mainstream music listeners, Chapin-Carpenter has been a consistent presence on country charts for 25 years, with three platinum albums and numerous Top Five singles there.  Her 2004 album, “Between Here and Gone,” contains the lovely ballad “Goodnight America,” which focuses on the gypsy lifestyle of being a musician on the road — “a weary traveler, but grateful to have the freedom to be one,” as she put it.  Sample lyric:  “I’m a stranger here, no one you would know, I’m from somewhere else, well isn’t everybody though, my ship has not come in, I don’t know where I’ll be when the sun comes up, until then, sweet dreams, goodnight America…”

“For America,” Jackson Browne, 1986

One of the premier singer-songwriters to emerge from Southern California in the 1970s, Browne has written dozens of articulately worded ballads and anthems to love and life (“For Everyman,” “Fountain of Sorrow,” “The Pretender”).  By the mid-’80s, the left-leaning Browne had grown disheartened with the actions the Reagan administration was taking abroad, and subsequently released the overtly political album, “Lives in the Balance,” which included the modest #30 single, “For America,” another song that wishes for better days ahead:  “I have prayed for America, I was made for America, I can’t let go ’til she’s comes ’round, until the land of the free is awake and can see, and until her conscience has been found…”

“Independence Day,” Elliott Smith, 1998

This talented singer-songwriter, based in Portland, struggled with depression, paranoia and drug addiction for most of his adult life before dying at age 34 in 2003. He released six LPs beginning in 1994, and wrote and recorded the Oscar-nominated song “Miss Misery” from the “Good Will Hunting” soundtrack in 1997. His “XO” album in 1998 included the delicately melodic “Independence Day,” an examination of the difficulty of change and inevitability of a finite life: “I saw you at the perfect place, it’s going to happen soon, but not today, /So go to sleep, make the change, I’ll meet you here tomorrow, /Independence Day…”

“Living in America,” Aztec Two-Step, 1986

The duo of Rex Fowler and Neal Shulman formed the nucleus of Aztec Two-Step, a lighthearted, lively folk rock band out of Boston.  From their roots in 1971, they have continued to release music and perform live ever since, although without much chart success.  In 1986, they came up with this quirky, optimistic ditty in tribute to Americans everywhere:  “Here’s to the silver screen, ah-ah, the music scene in America, here’s to the arts and crafts, people who make us laugh in America, here’s to the songs, the dance, the true romance, all those who take a chance in America, and here’s to the people too, whose dreams have all come true in America…” 

“America Street,” Edwin McCain, 1995

Emerging from South Carolina in the mid-1990s, McCain found success with his first three LPs and the 1998 single “I’ll Be,” which reached #5 on the pop charts. His debut album “Honor Among Thieves” is something of an underrated alt-rock classic, and includes the thought-provoking “America Street,” which bemoans the inequality found here and warns of the need to turn things around: “Riding down America Street, funny that it’s one way, /riding down from uptown to where the buildings are broken down in decay, /Well, America Street, it’s right nearby, land of the free and the brave, /And if we can’t work and make some change, there won’t be much of this land left to save…” 

“Living in the U.S.A.,” Steve Miller Band, 1968

Before Miller became a staple of mid-’70s mainstream rock, the Steve Miller Band was one of San Francisco’s more melodic counterculture groups, back when Boz Scaggs was still in the lineup. Their second album “Sailor” reached #24 on US album charts in 1968, and although “Living in the U.S.A.” stalled at #95, it earned its place as one of the great FM rock classics of its era. The hippie-ish lyrics may seem dated, but not the sentiment behind them: “Come on baby, /I see a yellow man, a brown man, a white man, a red man, /Lookin’ for Uncle Sam to give you a helping hand, /But everybody’s kickin’ sand, even politicians, /We’re living in a plastic land, somebody give me a hand…”

“American Prayer,” Dave Stewart, 2008

In 2002, Stewart, formerly with Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics, paired up with U2’s Bono to write this “paean to America based on the poetry of the Declaration of Independence and the taut truth in the Constitution.”  It was first performed during Bono’s Heart of America speaking tour that year to rally support for the fight against the AIDS crisis.  In 2008, Stewart altered some of the lyrics and recorded it “in honor of those working to make the world a better place.”  Sample lyrics:   “These are the hands, what are we gonna build with them, and this is the church you can’t see, and remember, give me your tired, your poor and huddled masses, you know they’re yearning to breathe free, this is my American prayer…”

“Real American,” Rick Derringer, 1985

Ricky Zehringer was only 17 when his band, The McCoys, had a #1 hit with “Hang On Sloopy” in 1965.  He became Rick Derringer in the Seventies and went on to become a solo star (“Rock and Roll Hoochie-Koo”) as well as an in-demand guest guitarist for Steely Dan, Edgar Winter, Alice Cooper and Todd Rundgren.  He wrote and sang “Real American” in 1985 for the World Wrestling Federation, and specifically Hulk Hogan, to use as entrance music.  The music and lyrics, which capitalized on the Cold War patriotic jingoism prevalent at the time, were ideal for the bombastic showbiz of pro wrestling.  Sample lyric: ” I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man, I am a real American, fight for what’s right, fight for your life…”

“Independence Day,” Martina McBride, 1994

A singer-songwriter named Gretchen Peters came up with this heartwrenching song in 1994, and country artist Martina McBride made it a platinum hit single on country charts that year. Its lyrics tell the story of a young girl who heads into her small town for the Independence Day fair, and while she was there, her mother — a victim of longtime domestic abuse — burns the house down with her alcoholic husband and her in it. The words convey a double meaning for “independence day”: It happened on the Fourth of July, and it was the day the woman tragically declared her independence from her intolerable marriage and life: “Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July by the time that the firemen come, /They just put out the flames, and took down some names, and sent me to the county home, /Now, I ain’t sayin’ it’s right or it’s wrong, but maybe it’s the only way, /Talk about your revolution, it’s Independence Day, /Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing, /Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning…”

“America,” Imagine Dragons, 2012

This Las Vegas-based pop rock band has won a bevy of awards and chart successes since their debut in 2009, most notably the hit singles “Radioactive,” “Demons,” “Believer” and “Thunder” and four top-ranked LPs in the 2010s. On their 2011 EP “It’s Time” comes a marvelous track entitled “America,” co-written by Imagine Dragons members Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee. The song offers words of encouragement and hope in the face of struggle and setback: “From farmers in the fields
to the tallest of the towers that fall and rise, /1-7-7-6, the names upon the list of all the ones who gave until they died, /don’t you hold back… /Rise to the top of the world, America, don’t you cry, /lift me up, give me strength to press on…”

“Surfin’ USA,” The Beach Boys, 1963

Wherever in the world there are big waves, you’ll find surfers, but thanks to Brian Wilson’s lyrics, Southern California beaches became a magnet for young Americans interested in surfing. The Beach Boys had already released two songs about the sport (“Surfin’ Safari” and “Surfin'”) and would release one more afterwards (“Surfer Girl”), but the iconic “Surfin’ USA” would reach #3 on the pop charts in 1963 after Wilson took the music from Chuck Berry’s hit “Sweet Little Sixteen” and wrote new words about the California hot spots: “If everybody had an ocean across the USA, /Then everybody’d be surfin’ like Californi-a… /You’d catch ’em surfin’ at Del Mar (inside, outside, USA), Ventura County line
(inside, outside, USA)… /All over La Jolla (inside, outside, USA), at Wa’imea Bay (inside, outside), /Everybody’s gone surfin’, surfin’ USA…”

“America the Beautiful,” Keb’ Mo’, 2001 

There are dozens and dozens of versions of this stunning piece, which I’ve always felt would be a better National Anthem than “The Star Spangled Banner.”  It was first written as a poem by Katherine Lee Bates in 1893, then tweaked a bit with a few new lyrics in 1903 and again in 1911.  Samuel Ward wrote the music back in 1882 to an altogether different lyric, “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.”  Ward’s hymn-like melody was first combined with Bates’s patriotic words in 1910 into the song we all know today.  In the Bi-Centennial year of 1976, two recordings received considerable airplay — Ray Charles’ stirring rendition on the R&B charts, and Charlie Rich’s commanding version on the country charts.  For something different but memorable, check out Keb’ Mo”s version from his “Big Wide Grin” album in 2001.

“American Tune,” Paul Simon, 1973  

I’ve always felt that this song from Simon’s “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” LP is one of his best works.  The majestic melody is lifted from Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion,” with poignant Simon lyrics that are simultaneously comforting and troubling.  Even a half-century ago, Simon was proud of his country, but concerned about its future:  “We come on the ship they call the Mayflower, we come on the ship that sailed the moon, we come in the age’s most uncertain hour, and sing an American tune, oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right, you can’t be forever blessed, still, tomorrow’s gonna be another working day, and I’m trying to get some rest…”

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And here’s my Honorable Mention list of other “American” songs:  

“4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy),” Bruce Springsteen, 1980;  “What Now America,” Lee Michaels, 1970; “American Girl,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1976;  “In America,” Charlie Daniels Band, 1980; “All the Way From America,” Joan Armatrading, 1980; “American Beauty,” Bruce Springsteen 2014;  “Independence Day,” David Byrne, 1989; “American Girls,” Counting Crows, 2002; “American Music,” The Blasters, 1981;  “American Idiot,” Green Day, 2004.