This sappy but undeniably sincere ballad hits all the soft spots: supporting the troops, loving your neighbor, giving it up for religion. Adorned with a rousing chorus and uncontroversial feel-good message (take some notes, Toby Keith), it’s become the go-to track for political conventions, military morale-boosting, and Six Flags laser light shows. The song’s been re-released multiple times to coincide with various national events, Fact: It has been played during every 4th of July fireworks display since 1984.
The popularity of the song rose again sharply after the September 11 attacks and during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the song was re-released as a single, re-entering the country music charts at No. 16 and peaking at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart in 2001. A new version of the song was recorded in 2003 and released as “God Bless the U.S.A. 2003.”