• Track: 4th of July
• Artist: X
• Album: See How We Are
• Year: 1987

Lyrics:

She’s waitin’ for me
when I get home from work
oh, but things ain’t just the same
She turns out the light
and cries in the dark
won’t answer when I call her name

On the stairs I smoke a
cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shootin’
fireworks below

Hey baby, it’s the Fourth of July
Hey baby, it’s the Fourth of July

She gives me her cheek
when I want her lips
but I don’t have the strength to go
On the lost side of town
in a dark apartment
we gave up trying so long ago

On the stairs I smoke a
cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shootin’
fireworks below

Hey baby, it’s the Fourth of July
Hey baby, it’s the Fourth of July

What ever happened I
apologize
so dry your tears and baby
walk outside, it’s the Fourth of July

On the stairs I smoke a
cigarette alone
Mexican kids are shootin’
fireworks below

Hey baby, it’s the Fourth of July
Hey baby, Baby take a walk outside

Today’s track comes from X, a Los Angeles post-punk/alternative band that while unknown to most, has notched two albums on Rolling Stone’s all-time best.

Strangely enough, I first heard 4th of July and thus discovered X while watching HBO’s The Sopranos. This track was used during the end credits from the season six episode, Live Free or Die.

While X was known as a punk band, I think it’s something of a misnomer given the number of musical genres they crossed. In this particular track, they hit the folk-rock/Americana genre pretty hard. Listen to this track twice and it will hook you. And if the line, “She gives me her cheek, when I want her lips” doesn’t make you think of a time your love gave you the cold shoulder, then you simply haven’t lived.

Or maybe you’re just better at love than the rest of us.

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