Seven red, white and blue songs to celebrate the most American holiday of the year
Posted On: 7/5/13
Written By: Nathan Brunet
*Click images below to view larger versions.
Kings of Leon
Foreigner
Led Zeppelin
The Allman Brothers Band
The White Stripes
Cream
Bob Dylan
Holy crap, I can’t believe it’s already Fourth of July weekend! I think I can speak for my fellow Ocean City workers that it feels like June flew by in a flash. I guess a multitude of days of hanging at the beach, walking the boardwalk, barhopping (and of course…working!) will do that to you. By the time you’re reading this, I’m sure Coastal Highway is bumper to bumper with visitors and locals alike taking part in the town’s many festivities for the holiday. This is a great time to be in town for both families and partygoers, with several special events at our bars, beach and other businesses throughout the days surrounding the Fourth of July. As we continue to celebrate, here are seven of my favorite songs with either the word red, white or blue in them. Happy Fourth!
“Red Morning Light”
By: Kings of Leon
On the album: Youth & Young Manhood (2003)
If you have never heard a Kings of Leon song until deciding to start with the beginning of the discography, this is the first song of theirs you would hear. Back in the day the band was an awesome garage rock band, instead of the pop rock phase they are going through now. “Red Morning Light” is an ideal example of the funky riffs and headbanging choruses that defined Kings of Leon over their first three albums. Nothing has been released from the band’s upcoming new album, Mechanical Bull, but many fans are hoping for a return to the garage rock style from the band’s early years.
“Dirty White Boy”
By: Foreigner
On the album: Head Games (1979)
Alright, we’re getting a little raunchy, but this is such a great song! About a low-life troublemaker attempting to woo a girl even though he “don’t drive no big black car,” this rocking song is Foreigner’s biggest single released on this album and one of the band’s most popular songs. The song’s popularity faded as time went on, but reemerged in the early 2000’s as part of a joke in the TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force; giving 20-somethings one-liners about Foreigner to use until the end of time.
By: Kings of Leon
On the album: Youth & Young Manhood (2003)
If you have never heard a Kings of Leon song until deciding to start with the beginning of the discography, this is the first song of theirs you would hear. Back in the day the band was an awesome garage rock band, instead of the pop rock phase they are going through now. “Red Morning Light” is an ideal example of the funky riffs and headbanging choruses that defined Kings of Leon over their first three albums. Nothing has been released from the band’s upcoming new album, Mechanical Bull, but many fans are hoping for a return to the garage rock style from the band’s early years.
“Dirty White Boy”
By: Foreigner
On the album: Head Games (1979)
Alright, we’re getting a little raunchy, but this is such a great song! About a low-life troublemaker attempting to woo a girl even though he “don’t drive no big black car,” this rocking song is Foreigner’s biggest single released on this album and one of the band’s most popular songs. The song’s popularity faded as time went on, but reemerged in the early 2000’s as part of a joke in the TV show Aqua Teen Hunger Force; giving 20-somethings one-liners about Foreigner to use until the end of time.
“White Summer”
By: Led Zeppelin
On the album: Coda (1982)
Interestingly, the instrumental guitar jam “White Summer” was written by legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page back when he was a member of The Yardbirds. After Page left The Yardbirds to form Led Zeppelin, his new band would oftentimes play this song live with “Black Mountain Side” from their first album, the self-titled Led Zeppelin, as a medley. “White Summer” was never officially released until its live medley with “Black Mountain Side” was included as a single track on the band’s final album, Coda. True Zeppelin fans would already realize this simply by listening to the familiar sounding guitar notes, but Page has confirmed “Over the Hills and Far Away” was a spin-off of “White Summer.”
“Blue Sky”
By: The Allman Brothers Band
On the album: Eat a Peach (1972)
Dickey Betts, co-founding member and former lead guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band, wrote this song about his girlfriend Sandy “Bluesky” Wabegijig (she was Native American, not a crazy hippie). The idea would later prove to backfire, as the two divorced only a few years after the song was written and Betts refused to perform the song live for a while. Sadly, this was one of only three songs on the album that was recorded in studio with co-founding member and guitarist Duane Allman, who died at the age of 24 in a motorcycle accident while the album was being recorded.
By: Led Zeppelin
On the album: Coda (1982)
Interestingly, the instrumental guitar jam “White Summer” was written by legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page back when he was a member of The Yardbirds. After Page left The Yardbirds to form Led Zeppelin, his new band would oftentimes play this song live with “Black Mountain Side” from their first album, the self-titled Led Zeppelin, as a medley. “White Summer” was never officially released until its live medley with “Black Mountain Side” was included as a single track on the band’s final album, Coda. True Zeppelin fans would already realize this simply by listening to the familiar sounding guitar notes, but Page has confirmed “Over the Hills and Far Away” was a spin-off of “White Summer.”
“Blue Sky”
By: The Allman Brothers Band
On the album: Eat a Peach (1972)
Dickey Betts, co-founding member and former lead guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band, wrote this song about his girlfriend Sandy “Bluesky” Wabegijig (she was Native American, not a crazy hippie). The idea would later prove to backfire, as the two divorced only a few years after the song was written and Betts refused to perform the song live for a while. Sadly, this was one of only three songs on the album that was recorded in studio with co-founding member and guitarist Duane Allman, who died at the age of 24 in a motorcycle accident while the album was being recorded.
“Blue Orchid”
By: The White Stripes
On the album: Get Behind Me Satan (2005)
While many of the songs on this album were a distinct departure from the guitar-heavy sound The White Stripes were known for, “Blue Orchid” is a loud, ferocious and heavily distorted guitar-driven song that is a classic example of the band’s simple, yet loud and engaging songwriting. The song quickly became a fan favorite, but its accompanying album was the second-to-last White Stripes album to release. Although the band has called it quits, former White Stripes frontman Jack White has some similar sounding songs on his debut solo album, Blunderbuss.
“White Room”
By: Cream
On the album: Wheels of Fire (1968)
Known as one of the most recognizable intros in classic rock history, “White Room” may not have made such an impact if it weren’t for a simple suggestion from drummer Ginger Baker. According to Baker, he asked the band to change the intro from the standard 4/4 time signature (which identifies songs as having four beats to a measure) to a 5/4 meter, lengthening each segment of the opening just enough to make the song distinct classic. “White Room” was placed on side one of the album, which included songs recorded in the studio. Side two of the album consisted of new songs recorded live, such as frontman Eric Clapton’s take on Robert Johnson’s classic blues song, called “Crossroads.”
By: The White Stripes
On the album: Get Behind Me Satan (2005)
While many of the songs on this album were a distinct departure from the guitar-heavy sound The White Stripes were known for, “Blue Orchid” is a loud, ferocious and heavily distorted guitar-driven song that is a classic example of the band’s simple, yet loud and engaging songwriting. The song quickly became a fan favorite, but its accompanying album was the second-to-last White Stripes album to release. Although the band has called it quits, former White Stripes frontman Jack White has some similar sounding songs on his debut solo album, Blunderbuss.
“White Room”
By: Cream
On the album: Wheels of Fire (1968)
Known as one of the most recognizable intros in classic rock history, “White Room” may not have made such an impact if it weren’t for a simple suggestion from drummer Ginger Baker. According to Baker, he asked the band to change the intro from the standard 4/4 time signature (which identifies songs as having four beats to a measure) to a 5/4 meter, lengthening each segment of the opening just enough to make the song distinct classic. “White Room” was placed on side one of the album, which included songs recorded in the studio. Side two of the album consisted of new songs recorded live, such as frontman Eric Clapton’s take on Robert Johnson’s classic blues song, called “Crossroads.”
“Tangled Up in Blue”
By: Bob Dylan
Off the album: Blood on the Tracks (1975)
For our final song on our list, we look into the mind of one of the best songwriters in the history of music. Interested in taking a twist from normal songwriting, this was one of Dylan’s songs to have a “multi-dimensional” storyline, which means there is no sense of time in the story. Seemingly about a couple that grew out of love, the song is most interesting when performed live. As an example of his songwriting genius, Dylan has changed the character perspective of the story during live performances, thus oftentimes almost entirely changing the song’s lyrics. “Tangled Up in Blue” is one of the most acclaimed songs in music history, reaching the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
By: Bob Dylan
Off the album: Blood on the Tracks (1975)
For our final song on our list, we look into the mind of one of the best songwriters in the history of music. Interested in taking a twist from normal songwriting, this was one of Dylan’s songs to have a “multi-dimensional” storyline, which means there is no sense of time in the story. Seemingly about a couple that grew out of love, the song is most interesting when performed live. As an example of his songwriting genius, Dylan has changed the character perspective of the story during live performances, thus oftentimes almost entirely changing the song’s lyrics. “Tangled Up in Blue” is one of the most acclaimed songs in music history, reaching the top 100 of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.