12 Songs That Celebrate America

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.