Music, poems and fireworks - 4th of July Fireworks, Freedom, and the Poetic Pulse of America: A Literary and Musical Reflection on July 4th

 

These photos were taken years ago in Catonsville Maryland Celebrating 4th of July in a grand style with many friends there. 

On July 4th, across cities like New York, the night sky ignites with bursts of fireworks, casting radiant hues over towering skyscrapers and the steadfast torch of the Statue of Liberty. Watching right now on CNN as the air vibrates with music—from the anthemic echoes of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida to JoJo’s impassioned Too Little Too Late—creating a collective pulse of celebration and reflection. The glow of these fireworks competes, yet harmonizes, with the flame held by Lady Liberty, symbolizing both challenge and hope for a nation grappling with its ideals.

The skyline becomes scripture, and the sky a great illuminated page. In the trembling hush before each firework blooms, one can almost hear the nation hold its breath. From the Statue of Liberty’s uplifted flame to the bridges of Manhattan, from riverfronts in the Midwest to town squares in New England, the country gathers—faces turned upward, eyes alight, hearts open.

Into this national ritual pours not just the brilliance of rockets and sparklers, but the even brighter cadence of poetry and song. The night does not belong to one voice. It is not a single narrative of triumph. It is a choral democracy —Coldplay and JoJo, David Guetta and Sia, Ed Sheeran and Frank Sinatra, Noah Kahan and poets whose words tremble in the margins of public memory. On this night, the music does not just entertain. It testifies.

Celebration and Struggle: The Dual Rhythms of July 4th

The July 4th festivities pulse with resilience and joy. Fireworks burst in vibrant cascades, echoing the triumphant refrains of Viva La Vida:

“I used to rule the world / Seas would rise when I gave the word.”

Yet beneath the dazzling display lies the work of sustaining liberty, confronting division, and bridging gaps. In my own poem, Freedom Compromised, I temper the spectacle with sober reflection:

“At last freedom has been compromised / In the land of the free and brave.”

The flame Lady Liberty holds “competes relentlessly with the fireworks”—a metaphor for the tension between America’s glowing promises and the social realities that challenge them. The poem’s inclusive embrace of “migrant,” “immigrant,” “asylee,” and “refugee” speaks to the true spirit July 4th enshrines—the welcoming of all who seek freedom’s light. This is a call not just to celebrate freedom, but to advocate for its full extension, ensuring “We the People” are united—not divided—by that pursuit.

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Voices of Empowerment: JoJo, Sia, and the Poetry of Resistance

JoJo’s Too Little Too Late channels personal resilience that mirrors a collective cry for dignity and justice:

“I gave you all I had and you tossed it away.”

Her lyrics transcend romantic lament to become a cultural metaphor for broken promises and the courage to move on from betrayal—whether personal or systemic. In my poem, I too run toward Lady Liberty—not in desperation, but with conviction that hope must be defended.

Sia’s crystalline declaration in Titanium soars across the river:

“You shoot me down, but I won’t fall / I am titanium.”

These words ignite the air with unflinching defiance. My poem’s “volcano of voices that will re-echo” aligns with Sia’s soaring proclamation. Resilience becomes an act of liberation. The crowd responds—not with silence, but with catharsis.

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The Complex Dance of Power: Coldplay and the Work of Unity

Viva La Vida recounts a fall from power and a longing for redemption:

“I know Saint Peter won’t call my name.”

This regret echoes my call for unity:

“Not divided into them versus us / But united in peace.”

Both song and poem underscore a central truth: America’s democratic experiment is not self-sustaining. It requires vigilance, compassion, and humility. As the nation commemorates its birth, we are called not just to wave flags, but to raise voices—and to rebuild.

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Inclusion and Identity: Ed Sheeran’s Azizam and the Poem’s Plural Embrace

Azizam, meaning “my beloved,” adds a touch of intimacy to the night’s collective voice. Sung partly in Farsi, it is a whispered resistance, a reminder of the global souls who gather under America’s promise:

“Azizam, my beloved, there’s no border where my heart ends.”

This sentiment mirrors the inclusive imagery I evoke:

“From all ages and all races, not expecting to be disgraced / Like a migrant—Or an immigrant, Like an asylee—Or a refugee…”

Azizam becomes a ballad of immigrants and refugees, transforming the Statue of Liberty’s silent welcome into a multilingual, melodic reality. Across rivers and boroughs, love, language, and liberty intertwine.

Sinatra’s Skyline: Ambition and Fragility

As the grand finale roars above Manhattan, Sinatra’s voice rises:

“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”

New York, New York is not just an anthem of ambition but a confession of reinvention. It dances hand-in-hand with my vision—running toward Liberty’s torch, not to arrive, but to begin anew. Yet the promise remains fragile. As the streets fill with celebration, the call for justice grows no quieter.

Noah Kahan’s Northern Light: Stick Season and Northern Attitude

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and Northern Attitude introduce a quieter cadence, steeped in the melancholy of change:

“The leaves are all gone now / And the air tastes like stone.”

His Vermont-born verses feel like winter in midsummer—a necessary stillness between fireworks. His honesty resonates with the vulnerable yearning in my poem, as he sings from the forgotten spaces of America—the quiet towns and colder hearts. July 4th is not just for the loudest voices; it is for those who watch, wait, and whisper freedom into their own brokenness.

Poetry That Glows Like Ember

In the spaces between choruses, I hear my own lines echo:

“I will run towards ‘Lady Liberty’ with hopes to be saved.”

Not because she is perfect, but because she still stands. The fireworks dazzle, but they do not blind us. We see the cracks. We feel the heat of injustice. And still, we gather—not to ignore them, but to face them, together. Fireworks alone cannot commemorate a nation still struggling to fulfill its founding promise. Justice must be sung, not assumed.

Even as the flame in Liberty’s hand reaches toward the heavens, the fireworks around her explode in vivid defiance—sometimes illuminating her glow, sometimes threatening to overshadow it—mirroring the delicate balance between hope and challenge that defines the American spirit.

The Interwoven Collage of Liberty: Music, Poetry, and Collective Memory

This constellation of voices—whether echoing through a concert hall, streaming from a rooftop in Manhattan, or etched into the lines of a poem—forms a vibrant mosaic of what America aspires to be and what it still struggles to become. The multiplicity of sound and verse reflects the democratic ideal: a chorus of diverse perspectives each contributing to a larger harmony, sometimes dissonant, but always essential.

The fireworks exploding over New York’s skyline symbolize more than celebration; they are a metaphor for fleeting moments of hope and illumination amid ongoing struggles. Each burst of light against the dark canvas recalls the fragility of freedom, the urgency of vigilance, and the resilience of the human spirit.

When Ed Sheeran’s Azizam interlaces with the soulful defiance of Sia’s Titanium or the introspective melancholy of Noah Kahan, they articulate the complex, layered reality of the American experience—one marked by joy and pain, inclusion and exclusion, triumph and fracture. This dynamic interplay mirrors the poem’s call for justice not only as a legal principle but as a lived reality—an ongoing project demanding empathy, courage, and action.

Civic Resonance: How Art Shapes National Identity

Art—music and poetry alike—serves as a conduit for national self-reflection. Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York evoke narratives of power, ambition, and reinvention that are inseparable from the American ethos. Yet these anthems are recontextualized when paired with the poetry of voices like mine, adding layers of nuance and critical inquiry. They invite listeners not just to revel in the ideal but to grapple with the contradictions embedded in the nation’s founding myths.

JoJo’s Too Little Too Late and David Guetta & Sia’s Titanium amplify personal stories of resilience and transformation that resonate beyond the individual. These narratives become communal hymns—manifestos of survival in the face of systemic inequities that persist despite the nation’s promises.

Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and Northern Attitude introduce a counterpoint to the exuberance of fireworks and triumphant anthems, reminding us that not all Americans experience freedom as celebration. His music captures the quieter, often overlooked geographies of the nation—spaces where hope flickers amid hardship and where freedom must be claimed anew every day.

Shared Spaces: The Statue of Liberty as a Beacon and Battleground

Throughout this symphony of sound and verse, the Statue of Liberty emerges as a central figure—both literal and symbolic. Her torch competes with the fireworks, yet their interplay suggests something profound: that liberty itself is contested, dynamic, and alive. The light she holds is not static; it challenges the night sky as much as it invites illumination. This image underscores a fundamental tension in the American story—the simultaneous promise of inclusion and the reality of exclusion.

The poem’s repeated invocation to “run towards Lady Liberty” is an urgent call for engagement—not passive admiration, but active participation in the nation’s ongoing democratic experiment. It resonates with the struggles expressed in the surrounding music, where voices rise in defiance, longing, and hope.

Music and Poetry as Acts of Witnessing and Advocacy

On July 4th, music and poetry do more than fill the air—they bear witness. They testify to histories both celebrated and suppressed, to futures both dreamed and deferred. They give shape to the silent cries of those who remain marginalized, transforming individual pain into collective consciousness.

My poem, even though written years ago it fits alongside these songs, with insistence that the Fourth of July is not merely a date for pageantry but a moment for reckoning. It demands that we listen—to the embers glowing beneath the fireworks, to the stories that challenge and expand our understanding of freedom.

Together, they remind us that liberty is not a given; it is a responsibility. It is a promise that must be renewed through struggle, solidarity, and song.

Conclusion: A Call to Harmonize Light and Shadow

As the final firework fades and the city’s pulse slows into the early dawn, the music lingers—a reminder that freedom is both celebration and challenge, flame and shadow. The diverse voices of this night—the anthems, the ballads, the poetry—invite us into a shared reckoning. They call us to imagine an America where the light of Lady Liberty shines not in competition with fireworks, but in partnership; where every voice is heard; and where justice is more than an ideal, but a lived truth.

In this harmonious complexity lies the true spirit of the Fourth of July: a perpetual symphony of hope, critique, and renewal.

 

1.    Freedom Compromised. (Written in May-August 2019).1.    Freedom 1.    Freedom Compromised. (Written in May-August 2019).

By Andrew Benson Greene

BA International Relations, Civil Law and English.

MSL Candidate - Francis King Carey School of law

Coordinating Board Member - MUPJ

At last freedom has been compromised

In the land of the free and brave.

If only the laws were not revised,

I will run towards the foot of ‘Lady Liberty’ with hopes to be saved.

And now from the bridges of New York to New Mexico.

I can walk and talk freely in the home of the free and brave

And listen to a volcano of voices that will re-echo,

What the ‘Founding Fathers’ in their true and distinct spirit gave.

There is a call to maintain the statuesqoe

In the home of the free and brave.

Where a throng will be lining up in search of a life of warm embrace.

From all ages and all races, not expecting to be disgraced,

Like a migrant -

Or an immigrant,

Like an asylee -

Or a refugee,

I will run towards ‘Lady Liberty’ with assurance of being saved.

But now, I wish freedom has not been diluted

In the land of the free and brave

And the minds of some in the land are no longer polluted

With draconian laws, now made even more grave,

In the home of the free and brave.

And ‘We the People’ are not divided into them versus us

But united in peace, freedom and a common cause

In the home of the free and brave.