In the meantime, so many songs have been written about the country, for good and for bad, that just listing songs mentioning the country would be too short, so today, we are looking at songs that mention the actual day listed on the Declaration, July 4^th.

1. Yankee Doodle Dandy – George Cohan
2. Saturday in the Park – Chicago
3. Goodbye – Night Ranger
4. Miss Fourth of July – Bon Jovi
5. 4^th of July – Soundgarden/X/Shooter Jennings (Waylon’s son)
6. 4^th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) – Bruce Springsteen
7. On the 4^th of July – James Taylor
8. Fourth of July – Mariah Carey
9. Yankee Rose – David Lee Roth
10. Good – Better than Ezra

“Sun Cheaters”, as they once were called for reasons completely unknown to me (if anyone happens to know, please enlighten me), have been around longer than we have recorded history. The Intuits wore walrus tusks with thin slits cut in them to reduce the amount of glare they saw off the water and snow.

Tinted lenses did not appear until the 18^th Century (about 1752), courtesy of the work of James Asycough. By the early 1900′s, the silent screens movie stars were all wearing them, some think to avoid recognition, while others think it was due to the red eye caused by the powerful arc lights used to light the set. By 1936, we hit the big time, when Edwin Land began experimenting with lenses made from his patented Polaroid filters.

Ever since, sunglasses have been a much needed wardrobe accessory.  Who can picture Jackie O without those large, dark sunglasses?  Can you imagine James Dean without his Ray-Bans?  When you think of John Lennon or Ozzie, can you not think of teashades, those little round sunglasses barely bigger than the eye?  So no matter what style of sunglasses you prefer, slip them on, even if its night, sit back, be cool, and enjoy these songs that refer to shades.

1. Cheap Sunglasses – ZZ Top
2. Sunglasses at night – Cory Hart
3. The Future is so bright, I have to wear shades – Timbuk3
4. Boys of Summer – Don Henley (and as mentioned before, The Ataris)
5. Outlaw Blues – Bob Dylan
6. Black Sunglasses – Mount Sims
7. Tire Me – Rage against the machine
8. Sunglasses – Divine Brown
9. Sunglasses after dark – The Cramps
10. Get Over – Lil Wayne

In an effort to keep in mind that we are “halfway there”, we’ll look at songs that take us halfway (or at least mention something being halfway, even if its just a half a cup of coffee (as in Tom’s Diner). This one is for everyone who thinks the cup is half full AND for all those who think its half empty.  Enjoy!

1. Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi
2. Meet Me Halfway – Blackeyed Peas
3. The Trickster – Radiohead
4. Halfway Gone – Lifehouse
5. Anywhere for you – Backstreet Boys
6. Playboy to a Man – Elvis Costello
7. Halfway There – Big Time Rush
8. Tom’s Diner – Suzanne Vega
9. Halfway to the Bottom – Aqualung
10. Half the way – Crystal Gayle

Because of this limited control, many Canadians believed themselves to still be British and they did not truly celebrate this change in status until 1917, when they celebrated the golden anniversary, 50 years of their own government of the change.

In 1946, a bill was introduced to change the name from Dominion Day to Canada Day, however this was not formally accomplished until 1982, and even then with some protest.

By the 1980′s, most of Canada had some sort of local celebration. There are concerts, parades, festivals, and often fireworks. The Queen of England has appeared several times on this national holiday, as she did this year. So in honor of the birthday of Canada, today’s list is made of a few of the songs that refer to Canada in some mostly positively, way (purposely leaving out South Parks, Blame Canada and Canadian Idiot by Weird Al).

1. Canadian Please - Julia Bentley & Andrew Gunadie – An Absolute MUST-SEE video
2. Oh Canada/Welcome to the Maritimes - Classified
3. Great White North – Bob and Doug McKenzie
4. Canadian Railroad Trilogy/Alberta Bound - Gordon Lightfoot (or Alberta Bound)
5. Dire Wolf - Tragically Hip
6. Lakeside Park/Spirit of Radio – Rush
7. Helpless - Neil Young
8. Life is a Highway - Tom Cochran
9. Canadian Dream – Sam Roberts
10. Crabbuckit /Flypaper – K-os

For an impressive collection of Canadian songs, check out this list.

1. School’s Out – “Schooooooooool’s out for summer” The unofficial start-of-summer anthem: even 12-year-olds, regardless if they know it’s Alice Cooper, know this chorus.
2. Summertime Girls by Y&T -  “She’s hot!” As the temperature rises on more than just the thermometer.
3. Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams – “Those were the best days of my life” – This song has LOTS of meaning to different people.
4. Summer Nights – John Travolta, Olivia Newton John – “Summer lovin’, had me a blast” – Where this iconic couple prequel out what they did last summer.
5. That Summer - Garth Brooks – “That summer wind” – What an interesting summer job this sounds like
6. Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft – “Summer breeze, makes me feel fine” – The feel good song of the summer that has been around forever
7. Summer Nights – Lil Rob – “I feel good now, summer nights”  -  At least I found one line I could highlight in a PG rated blog.
8. Summer Nights – Rascal Flatts – “Everybody, are you with me?” – and an interesting video
9. All Summer Long “Singing, ‘Sweet, Home Alabama’” Lynard Skynard was obviously a prominent fixture in Kid Rock’s musical history.
10. Magic – The Cars – “Summer, Summer, Summer” – Ok ok, I had to get the Cars onto some list….and the phrase Summer Summer Summer seemed to fit
    

There are so many songs about summer that perhaps next time I need to break it down by time of day (Summer Nights alone could fill a couple of lists).  The Beach Boys did so many songs about summer they could provide a weeks worth of lists (Endless Lists?), but picking just one was difficult (maybe All Summer Long would be a good representation). How could I resist the chance to put up John Travolta before he became Mr. Pulp Fiction himself?  And as much as I would LOVE to include Boys of Summer, its almost a better end of summer song, so I’ll hold on to it until then.  I might have to take that long to decide which version to use, Don Henley’s classic original, or The Atari’s best cover of all time .

Of course, trying to do a list about Hot, Heat, Burning, Fever, or Temperature could be interesting as it relates to summer.  Perhaps on the first good heat wave I’ll make one of these lists. Then again, I am not the first, to do a list of summer songs, for another viewpoint, check out The Grammy

So slip on the sunglasses, slide on some sunscreen and pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade (Newman’s Own, anyone?) and add your favorite song of summer to the list!

1. Cats in the Cradle – Harry Chapin (remade by Ugly Kid Joe) – folk song about a kid whose Dad is too busy to spend time with him, who ends up just like his dad in the end, too busy to go see the aging father.
   
2. Father of Mine – Everclear – an autobiographical song of a boy whose father leaves.
3. Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith – an abused girl extracts her revenge
4. Our Father – Extreme – another broken home
5. Why Father – Walls of Jericho – more abuse
6. Dear Father – Sum 41 – another missing dad
7. Father -  LL Cool J – broken home and abuse
8. Hey Dad – Good Charolette – another missing dad
9. Had a Dad – Janes Addiction – yet another missing dad
10. Oh Father – Madonna – unloved child
    

But, I cannot leave the list like this and let everyone think all musicians hate their dads.  So here’s a little love for the fathers:

1. My Father’s Eyes – Eric Clapton – respect for a dad’s presence and perspectives
2. The Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics – Talk to your dad before its too late
   
3. Butterfly Kisses – Bob Carlisle – The love of a girl for a dad
   
4. Old Man – Neil Young  – Not always great, but he is going home to his dad who is a lot like him
   
5. Father Son – Peter Gabriel – Can do anything with Dad by your side
   
6. Daddy – Beyoncé  -  Appreciation for what her Dad has done and how she wants her son and husband to be like him
7. Papa was a Rolling Stone – Temptations – A father dies too young and the kids never hear a bad thing about him, even if he wandered
   
8. Dance with my Father - Luther Vandross -  Missing his father and how loved he felt when he danced with his dad
9. The Greatest Man I Never Knew – Reba McEntire – could go on either list, but there is regret instead of anger so it makes this list
10. Father – Cat Stevens – asking his dad for help through life

The first list is a real eye opener at the anger that resides in the hearts of kids after the angry breakup of their parents marriage or dads that don’t even bother to take responsibility for their actions.  We hear the statistics on the emotional problems kids have after nasty separations or abandonment, but hearing the results of it creep into our music in the form of bitterness makes us consider the pain they must of felt more clearly. Child support should be emotional and social, just not a rarely collected dollar figure.  Dad’s need to be present.  Who knows, maybe your child will be writing a song about his dad; what do you want it to say?

When his peers invested in race horses and prize cattle, he put his money into hogs.  At first, it was a source of amusement to him to talk about his “hogs”, but when the market collapsed he recalled how his grandpa would make sausage, and was inspired to turn downturn into upswing.  Jimmy Deans Food offered a good product at a fair price and was lead to success by Mr. Dean’s clever commercials.  The company was eventually sold, however, Mr. Dean stayed on as a spokesman until 2004.

Musically, he continued to churn out hits into the 1970′s until he semi-retired.  He served on the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries and wrote a book to cap off his remarkable career.  In Febuary of 2010, he was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and will be inducted, posthumously, in October.

So in honor of his amazing streak of successes, today’s list will be of stars who have built food related companies – on the side, as they say.

1)  Paul Newman – former honoree of The Daily List Blog, whose Newman’s Own food label has donated over $290 million dollars to charity.  That’s a lot of salad dressing, popcorn, pizza, lemonade, and the list of products just keeps getting longer.

2)  Sammy Hagar – singer for Van Halen. He has created a brand of Tequila, Cabo Wabo.  This is the same name as his growing chain of nightclubs.

3) Planet Hollywood – a Partnership with Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This one hasn’t done so well lately, having filed for bankruptcy protection twice.

4) Eddie Money and Jonathan Cain – rock stars (Mr. Cain was the keyboardist for The Baby’s and Journey) are partners in a wine venture – the Wanna Go Back label.  (For a fascinating list of other Celebrity Wine Vintners, check out this article in LuxLife)

5)  Jimmy Johnson – football coach, University of Miami/Dallas Cowboys – owns a restaurant called Three Rings, which is the number of championship rings he has from the college and professional ranks.

6)  Travis Barker – drummer, Blink-182 -  co-owner of a Wahoo Fish Tacos in Norco, CA.

7)  Dan Ackroyd – actor, co-founder of The House of Blues.  He still hosts the House of Blues Radio Hour as Elwood.

8)  Johnny Depp – actor, part owner of The Viper Room.  This club is perhaps best known as the place River Phoenix died.

9) Tim Horton – Hockey Player, co-founder of Tim Horton Donuts, which became Tim Horton’s, which still later became Tim Hortons.  This chain is now larger than McDonald’s in Canada.  It should be noted that Tim died in 1974, well before the huge growth of the company that still bears his name.

10) Ludacris – rapper, co-founder Straits Restaurants -  With 5 locations currently, and another set to open, it is growing despite the recession.  I, for one, cannot wait to try it next time I am in Atlanta (or San Jose, or Santa Monica, or…).  It should be noted that Ludacris also has his own cognac as well, Conjure. I wonder if this mean he won’t rap about Hennessy, anymore?

We’ll miss you Jimmy, but rest assured, celebrities are willing than ever to take a chance in serving up great food and drinks.  Perhaps one day we’ll be able to get some Jimmy Dean Sausage, a Tim Hortons donut, with a cup of Newman’s Own Coffee (or Lemonade for those so inclined) at the House of Blues.  Ok, maybe that is pushing it.

Anne Frank is certainly not the first to keep a diary of her thoughts and activities.   Today’s list will center on just a few of the famous diaries throughout history and up to our modern times..

1.  Henry David Thoreau -writer

2.  Andy Warhol – artist

3.  Ronald Reagan – President of US

4.  Beatrix Potter – Writer

5.  John Adams – President of US

6.  Madeleine L’Engle – writer

7.  Stevie Nicks – musician

8.  Kurt Cobain – musician

9.  Bridget Jones – fictional diary keeper

10.  Princess Diaries – fictional diary keeper

These men and women kept journals that were published , often posthumously or were used as part of their work. Today, many people use their blogs as a way to record this type of personal thoughts and activities.

So for today’s list, we are going to look at other famous people with the names of states. No, not people like George Washington who states are named after, that would be too easy; but fictional and real people who share their names with the maps of the US.

1. George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington are fine representatives for the state of Washington, or was it the city? George Carver is known for his work with peanuts while Booker was an influential politician in his day.
2. Johnny Utah – Kaneau Reeves role in Point Break
3. Dakota Fanning – Actress known for her roles in I am Sam and The secret life of bees.
4. Georgia O’Keefe – a fascinating, innovative American artist
5. Virginia Woolf – a tragic writer from England during the last 1800′s. Interestingly enough, there is no appearance of Virginia Wolf in the play (and movie) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
6. Minnesota Fats – legendary fictional pool player
7. Indiana Jones – Role made famous by Harrison Ford, although technically named after the dog.
8. Tennessee Williams – American Playwright who wrote such classics as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar named Desire.
9. Neveda Smith – A character played by Steve McQueen in a movie with the same name.
10. Joe Montana, whose birthday we celebrate today.

These are just the relatively famous ones. At one of the BEST high schools in America, (warning, writers bias alert), Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, there was a less famous but appropriately named California Bowersmith..

1. Elvis Presley – 31 Different movies including Love me tender
2. Madonna – A League of their own
3. Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard
4. Mick Jagger – Ned Kelley / Freejack
5. Keith Richards - Pirates of the Caribbean 3
6. Rob Zombie – (Writing/Directing/Producing Halloween II)
7. Mandy Moore - A Walk to Remember
8. David Bowie - Last Temptation of Christ
9. Phil Collins - Buster
10. Mark Wahlberg – Four Brothers, The Italian Job

One day we’ll have to look at actors and actresses who have tired their hands at music.