1. "God Bless America" was written by an immigrant from Siberia.
2. "This Land Is Your Land" was originally written as a sarcastic response to "God Bless America."
3. The 1812 Overture, which is commonly played at 4th of July celebrations, is actually about Russia.
View this video on YouTube
It was written by Tchaikovsky to commemorate Russia's defeat of Napoleon.
4. And Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." is about a Vietnam War vet who returns home, only to feel abandoned by his own country.
5. "You're a Grand Old Flag" was a basically a pop hit. It sold over a million copies of sheet music.
6. The composer of "America the Beautiful" never got to hear his melody paired with the lyrics.
Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics originally as a poem, in 1893 while on a trip to Colorado. Samuel A. Ward, a church organist, composed the melody but died one year before it was joined with Bates' lyrics in 1904.
7. Don McLean's "American Pie" is about the tragic death of Buddy Holly.
"The day music died" = the day Buddy Holly died in a plane crash.
8. And Martina McBride's "Independence Day" is actually about domestic abuse.
The controversial 1994 song is about the stories of two women: the daughter of an alcoholic, abusive father, and her mother, who ends up burning their family house down.
9. The melody of the "Star-Spangled Banner" is from an old English drinking song.
10. "Kids in America" was written by a team of Brits.
View this video on YouTube
British singer Kim Wilde wrote the song with her father and brother.
11. And "Yankee Doodle" was originally sung by the British military during the Revolutionary War to mock Americans.
12. Whitney Houston's amazing Super Bowl performance of the "Star-Spangled Banner" was actually lip-synched.
13. Forty-six of the fifty states prefer Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." over any other patriotic song on the 4th of July.
Ain't no 4th of July party like a Miley party, y'all.
