JOHN MELLENCAMP PINK HOUSES MEANING FREE

This song is actually about the Fourth of July, but the independence McBride is talking about has nothing to do with America.

crowd now - but is that really a good thing? Of course, as we all know it worked out for Cyrus in the end, she definitely fits in with the L.A. Cyrus discusses coming to Los Angeles, “the land of fame excess” for the first time from her hometown of Nashville and worrying about fitting in with a crowd where “Everybody seems so famous.” Many would point to America’s adoration of celebrity and over-indulgence as things that are problematic about the nation, not ones that should be celebrated. “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 / This land was made for you and me,” is the often dropped final verse, a critique of Depression-era hunger, an issue Guthrie often spoke about in his writing and music.ĭepending on what your vision of the ideal America is, this song’s exultation of L.A. “As I went walking I saw a sign there / And on the sign it said ‘No Trespassing’/ But on the other side it didn’t say nothing / That side was made for you and me,” is one variant of a political verse about private property. Those extra verses were embraced by Guthrie’s folk proteges in the 1960s, but frequently aren’t remembered by your average Joe now. However, there are some extra verses schoolchildren aren’t often taught that are more critical of America - which makes sense given Guthrie’s leftist politics. The song is now considered to be one of America’s great patriotic songs and is Guthrie’s best-known contribution to popular music.

“There’s winners and there’s losers / But they ain’t no big deal / ‘Cause the simple man baby pay for the thrills, the bills / The pills that kill,” he sings in the final verse, drawing attention to this country’s problems with inequality.įolk legend Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land” in response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” which Guthrie thought was an unrealistic portrayal of a country he’d spent his life traveling across. But, like many of the songs on this list, if you take a closer listen to the verses - and the last one in particular - the song is more critical than it seems.

JOHN MELLENCAMP PINK HOUSES MEANING FREE

“Ain’t that America somethin’ to see baby / Ain’t that America home of the free / Little pink houses for you and me,” Mellencamp sings in the chorus. From the chorus, it seems as though the song is an ode the classic American dream of living in suburbia with a house, a spouse, and children. John Mellencamp is popularly considered to be a patriotic rock singer, who writes songs about good working-class people enjoying their small town lives. While the tune is a celebration of American music, it is also a lamentation that all the great American music has died, and the conclusion is that since rock and roll is what offers our salvation, we all might as well die too. The song’s many verses go on to chronicle the history of rock and roll, with many interpreting the “King” referred to in the song as Elvis, the “Jester” is Bob Dylan, and “the sergeants” the Beatles, as well as other references to important moments in rock history. The 1971 song “American Pie” is Don McLean’s long magnum opus about February 3, 1959, “The Day the Music Died,” when a plane crash killed early rock and roll pioneers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. The following songs are often mistaken for being patriotic, when their actual meaning is more complicated. in the title or says ‘America’ in the chorus, since sometimes these songs can have a more critical message than it seems.

When creating your Fourth of July playlist, you should be more discriminating than just picking any song that has U.S.A. Here’s a list of songs that seem like they’re patriotic, but if you listen more closely their messages aren’t quite so pro-America.

John mellencamp pink houses meaning