Three songs you need to have on your 4th of July playlist

The 4th of July falls on a Tuesday in 2023 so a mid-week holiday means you must prepare your mix tape early for your guests. These songs don't have to be at the beginning of your tape, or at the end. Just make sure they are in there somewhere.

Oh, who am I kidding? There's no mix tape anymore. There is only the Amazon Music playlists you create and the blare on you rloud speaker you borrowed from your sister. She might be cooler than you or I anyway.

My point is, good for you having people over. You needed to expand your horizons a little. And to connect even more with new friends on the 4th of July, make sure the three songs that follow are on your playlist.

Prepare early: 3 great songs for the 4th of July

Tom Waits - "Hell Broke Luce"

Your friends don't like Tom Waits? You need to kick them out then. I get having a difference of opinion about musical styles, but to totally throw out the notion that people don't care for Waits means that those people are lost on an endless ocean of musical boy bands. Sad to see.

This song is about war, of course. War is an awful thing and while almost every nation is incepted through battle, it doesn't make it any easier to accept bloody violence. Still, Waits isn't saying the United States is bad (nor should he!), but just that war is horrible. Your friends will love this song.

John Mellencamp - "Rain on the Scarecrow"

The United States began as a nation of farmers and now the farmers deserve better. Sadly, this song came out in the 1980s, and still farmers everywhere deserve to be appreciated more. They work long hours and get underpaid and that' a fact no matter where you live.

So on this 4th of July, give some thanks to the farmer that likely worked to make sure there was food on your table. And that's really what the 4th of July is about, right? The appreciation that we are individual people that make up a nation of millions.

Jimi Hendrix - "The Star Spangled Banner [ National Anthem ]"

Hendrix always did his own unique thing, of course, and created music in a way that you weren't sure if he was of this earth. The term "musical genius" is overused, but does apply when it comes to Hendrix. So somehow his rendition of the "The Star Spangled Banner" can still be divisve.

Maybe it's because he plays the tune on an electric guitar in front of a (likely liberal) audience at Woodstock in 1969 that offends some. Or maybe it's because Hendrix is seen as some kind of hippie who disrespects the United States. But let me remind you Hendrix served in the military and is one of the greatest musicians the United States has ever produced.

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