The Songs Americans Stream on July 4th

From party anthems to Vietnam critiques, the songs Americans play to celebrate our nation's independence will surprise you.

When Americans connect that Bluetooth speaker to their phones, what songs will they play on Spotify today? Will it be patriotic anthems, Sousa marches, or other odes to American democracy?

Or, do we just want to party?

I analyzed Spotify’s Top 200 daily streams on July 4th from 2017 through 2023. I then zoned in on the songs Americans played on July 4th that they did not play nearly as often on the days leading up to July 4th to isolate those songs people specifically streamed for Independence Day. (n other words, I eliminated songs that just happened to be big hits in July). I then totaled the streams for the seven interdependence Days to rank this list:

The songs that make this list fall into five categories:

#1: ‘Merica!

I’ve long theorized that normal people look at song titles and pay little attention to all the lyrics (Should we tell the blushing bride what I Will Always Love You actually says?) A far more benign example is how Americans will play any song that mentions our nation’s name on our birthday. Representing three of the top 10 songs on Independence day include:

• There’s Miley Cyrus’ “Party In The U.S.A.” (#1), which is about overcoming late teen social angst, not glorifying the 50 states.

• People famously miss that Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” (#2) calls out our nation’s abandonment of Vietnam war veterans—arguably making it a true patriotic anthem.

• Although Tom Petty refuted rumors that American Girl (#8) is about a University of Florida student who committed suicide, it’s clearly not celebrating a nation that “raised [her] on promises.”

• Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin' (#15) merely mentions that “she’s a good girl,” because she loves America as much as she does horses.

• Finally, Don McLean’s “American Pie” (#9) and Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids” (#12) celebrate American experiences, but seem to make this list simply because of their titles—and because they go great with a cold Budweiser.

#2: Summer Fun

The 4th of July is simply as summer as it gets. Kid Rock celebrates Michigan summers in “All Summer Long” (#11), while Canadian Bryan Adams remissness about his “Summer Of '69” (#19). (TMI, Bryan.) Katy Perry’s “Firework” (#10) compares your awesomeness to the fun of watching explosives, while Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” (#17) is just plain fun.

#3: Feel Good Classics

While not as big as specifically “American” songs, the biggest number of 4th of July favorites on this list are feel good oldies.

• From Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” (#5) and Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” (#7) to The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” (#25) and the anachronistic ”September” (#14) by Earth, Wind & Fire, Independence Day brings out the oldies.

• There’s some newer classics on the list, too, including Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (#18) and Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” (#22). At the risk of making myself old, I’d also consider Daryl Hall & John Oates’ “You Make My Dreams (Come True)” (#13) a new classic—even though it’s now way older than any 60s’ oldie I loved as a kid.

• Creedence Clearwater Revival have two classics on the list; “Bad Moon Rising” (#20) and “Fortunate Son” (#6), which like Bruce Springsteen’s contribution is arguably a patriotic rebuke of our shortcomings.

• Finally, Americans have discovered what Bavarians at Oktoberfest have known for years: John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (#24) is a great drinking song.

#4: Party Country

Americans also roll out the Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” (#3) to go along with their, “cold beer.” Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” (#21) and the Zac Brown Band with Jimmy Buffett’s “Knee Deep” (#23) also are among Americans’ top songs on July 4th.

#5: Patriotic Songs

Only two overtly patriotic songs make the list: Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The U.S.A.” (#16), and the now far more popular Toby Keith response to the 9/11 attacks, “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue” (#4).

Five songs surprisingly absent from this list

Are Americans becoming anti-immigration, or is the song simply out of fashion? Neil Diamond’s “America” is still ubiquitous at municipal fireworks displays, but didn’t make Spotify’s daily top 200 on any 4th of July I examined. (“Sweet Caroline” did make the list twice, however.)

Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” might be expected here simply because of its title, but perhaps Americans paid more attention to the song’s story of escaping an abusive relationship than did Sean Hannity.

I personally don’t feel good that James Brown’s “Living In America” is missing.

“America The Beautiful”—the Ray Charles version is the one to play here obviously—is also absent.

Finally, no version of “The Star Spangled Banner”—even Whitney Houston’s iconic 1993 tendering of our national anthem, makes the list.

As we celebrate our nation’s 248th birthday, the sentiments of this song might seem quaintly outdated when ruthless bickering is now the national pastime, but it is my wish that we as a people rediscover this spirit…

Date source for this post:

Spotify Charts (days of 7/4/2017, 7/4/2018, 7/4/2019, 7/4/2020, 7/4/2021, 7/4/2022, and 7/4/2023, for the USA): https://charts.spotify.com/charts/overview/us