Only in America (Brooks & Dunn song)

Jay and the Americans performed a Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song of the same name in 1963.

"Only in America" is a song recorded by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. It was released in June 2001 as the second single from the album Steers & Stripes.^{[citation needed]} Kix Brooks, one-half of the duo, co-wrote the song with Don Cook and Ronnie Rogers. "Only in America" was also the second of three consecutive number one hits from that album, reaching its peak on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts for the week of October 27, 2001.^{[citation needed]}

"Only in America"
Single by Brooks & Dunn
from the album Steers & Stripes
B-side	"The Long Goodbye"
Released	June 18, 2001
Genre	Country
Length	3:41 (single version) 4:29 (album version)
Label	Arista Nashville 69130
Songwriter(s)	Kix Brooks Don Cook Ronnie Rogers
Producer(s)	Kix Brooks Ronnie Dunn Mark Wright
Brooks & Dunn singles chronology
"Ain't Nothing 'bout You" (2001) "Only in America" (2001) "The Long Goodbye" (2001)

Content

"Only in America" is an up-tempo in the keys of E and F major (the song transposes upward before the final chorus), accompanied largely by electric guitar. Its lyrics outline the lives of various people across the United States — a school bus driver and her bus full of children in the first verse, and a pair of newlyweds (a 'welder's son and a banker's daughter') in their limousine in the second verse — before observing in the chorus that "only in America" do such people "get to dream as big as [they] want to".

Critical reception

Although the song was recorded and released less than three months prior to the September 11 attacks, Brooks feels that the song got grouped in with other, similarly patriotic songs which were released in response to the attacks.^[1] The song was also featured in the beginning of the Oliver Stone film World Trade Center. Rolling Stone reviewer Andrew Dansby described the song was an "advertisement waiting to happen".^[2] Chris Neal of Country Weekly called the song a "flag-waving opener" to Steers & Stripes, but nonetheless made note of the song's "rock-solid riff".^[3]

The song has been used extensively in campaigns for both political parties. It was used frequently during president George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.^[4][5][6] John Kerry also had it played at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.^{[citation needed]} The song also played when Obama announced Joe Biden as his vice president in Springfield, Illinois in 2008.^{[citation needed]} It was also featured after Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver on August 28, 2008, and has been used at campaign events in Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.^{[citation needed]}

"Only in America" was used often in campaign events for Newt Gingrich in his bid to receive the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination.^{[citation needed]} Scott Walker (R-WI) also used the song after his first speech when he survived a gubernatorial recall on June 5, 2012.^{[citation needed]} Mitt Romney also uses the song in many of his political rallies.^{[citation needed]} When Ted Cruz dropped out of the 2016 primaries, he closed his announcement with this song.^{[citation needed]}

Towards the end of the 2016 election, Republican nominee Donald Trump used the song for various rallies.^{[citation needed]}

"Only in America" was the first song to be heard on KKGO in Los Angeles when that station launched its current country music format on February 26, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Music video

The video was released June 18, 2001. It was directed by Michael Merriman and edited by Scott Mele. It incorporated live concert footage with scenes of every day Americans going about their day in a fitting tribute to the melting pot America represents.

In the news

On July 28, 2023, former president Donald Trump took the stage at a presidential primary event hosted by the Republican National Party in Des Moines, Iowa, while "Only in America" played. Trump's appearance at the podium coincided with the lyrics "One could end up going to prison, one just might be President." Although all 13 candidates at the event walked out to the same song, Trump's legal perils made the news media as well as social media take note of the irony. This event occurred just a day after three additional charges for obstruction were announced in the Department of Justice probe into Trump's illegal possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.^[7] Fox News reported that "Twitter users were quick to point out the lyrics" and provided examples of Republican officials and GOP strategist's Tweets on the subject.^[8]

Chart positions

"Only in America" debuted at number 54 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of June 23, 2001.

Chart (2001)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[9]	1
US Billboard Hot 100[10]	33

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)	Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[11]	14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[12]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Parodies

• American country music parody artist Cledus T. Judd released a parody of "Only in America" titled "Don't Mess With America" on his 2002 album Cledus Envy.^{[citation needed]}