Daily Dirt: Springsteen, Greenwood or Cash? Take patriotic your pick; all three are awesome

Daily Dirt for Sunday, July 3, 2022

How many times will we hear Bruce Springsteen sing “Born In The U.S.A.” by the time Monday night rolls around? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 328 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Best songs to play on this marvelous July 4 weekend:

• Gold medal: “Born In The U.S.A,” by Bruce Springsteen, which, ironically, was intended to be a song about the hardships endured by Vietnam veterans after they returned home. Instead, it almost immediately took on its own life as a 1970s patriotic anthem. The 1984 classic is 4 minutes, 38 seconds of The Boss at his guitar-pounding, blue jean-wearin’ best.
• Silver medal: “God Bless the U.S.A.,” by Lee Greenwood. This always will be one of those songs that brings concert-goers to their feet, applauding Greenwood’s patriotism and honoring their country.
• Bronze medal: “Ragged Old Flag,” by Johnny Cash, a song about the evolution of our country and one of Cash’s best.

2. Best celebrity performance playing the president in the movies:

• Daily Dirt Academy Award: Harrison Ford as President James Marshall in “Air Force One.” He helped take down a plane full of Russian terrorists.
• Daily Dirt Academy Award Runner-up: Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shephard in “The American President.” His relationship with lobbyist Annette Bening was the stuff of legends.
• Daily Dirt Academy Award Nice Try: Morgan Freeman as President Tom Beck in “Deep Impact.” He and a handful of brave Americans attempted to save humanity from a comet heading directly for Earth.

3. Best patriotic song performed by a rock star:

• Daily Dirt Platinum Record: Whitney Houston, national anthem, 1991 Super Bowl. This will always be No. 1. Always.
• Daily Dirt Gold Record: Jennifer Hudson’s performance of the anthem at the 2009 Super Bowl was a close, close second.
• Daily Dirt Standing Ovation: Jimi Hendrix, guitar version of the national anthem, originally performed at Woodstock in 1969. “All I did was play it,” Hendrix said. “I’m American, so I played it … it’s not unorthodox. I thought it was beautiful.” It was.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Steve has always wondered why July 4 has traditionally represented the halfway mark of the summer, even though summer officially began little more than a week ago.