Independence Day, Vol. 6

Independence Day is already this coming weekend, proving that time truly does fly! 2025 in itself has been a weird year already in America, and the last thirty days have been somehow even more turblent, but I hope everyone is able to take a break this Friday and just enjoy time with our loved ones . Our 2025 playlist has an interesting mix this year, but as always it's full of fun. The full playlist can be viewed on Apple Music @audioaesthetics.

Hollywood by Cherry Pools (written by M. Broad, D. Ciccotelli, A. Calabretta)

Featured on Cherry Pools's 2018 EP Less Religion More Sex, this is a fun one I found a few years ago for another post. The shoutout to Hollywood and it's very particular reputation fit right on in.

She changes clothes like her boyfriends, the latest style is to use them/Sometimes her nose sniffs a few things, she only smokes when it’s the new thing/And your body’s got the best of me, and Daddy’s money is a luxury/And maybe if you weren’t so naive, you wouldn’t come off as stuck up and rich/And your friends have cool friends/With nice cars and expensive things/That my band is old news/Hollywood girls with their Hollywood trends, who needs ‘em

West of Yesterday by Don Edwards (written by D. Edwards)

Featured on Edwards's 1996 album West of Yesterday, this beautiful cowboy song is worth a listen for anyone and everyone. I had the undeniable pleasure of knowing Don Edwards personally (he's my aunt's dad), and his singing voice and musicianship are just as lovely as his personality was.

In the evening's twilight, melancholy shadows stray/Down the trail of memories from west of yesterday/The night's a time for thinking back to days of long ago/And my favorite cowboy hero and that famous horse he rode/They rode the open range out across the silver screen/Over sawdust trails and purple sage and in a young man's dreams/Dreams don't last forever, but memories never die/Out there west of yesterday, Tom Mix will always ride

American Honky-Tonk Bar Association by Garth Brooks (written by B. Kennedy, J. Rushing)

Featured on Brooks's 1993 album In Pieces, this is '90s country if I ever heard it. I'm not sure when the day will come that we can stream Garth on Apple Music, but this song is available to listen to on YouTube.

If your paycheck depends on the weather and the clock/If your conversation calls for a little more than a coffee pot/If you need to pour your heart out and try to rectify some situation that you're facing/Contact your American Honky-Tonk Bar Association/When Uncle Sam dips in your pocket, for most things you don't mind/But when your dollar goes to all of those standing in a welfare line/Well, rejoice, you have a voice if you're concerned about the destination of this great nation/It's called the American Honky-Tonk Bar Association/It represents the hardhat, gunrack, achin'-back, over-taxed, flag-wavin’, fun-lovin' crowd/Their heart is in the music and they love to play it loud/There's no forms or applications, there's no red-tape administrations/It's the American Honky-Tonk Bar Association

The Schuyler Sisters by Hamilton Original Broadway Cast (written by L. Miranda)

Featured on the 2015 original cast recording of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, this Act I favorite of mine introduces three important figures not only in the show, but actual American history: Angelica Schuyler Church (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Eliza Schuyler Hamilton (Philippa Soo), and Peggy Schuyler Van Rensselaer (Jasmine Cephas Jones). This song was the first Hamilton song I ever heard, so it'll always hold a special place in my heart.

There’s nothing rich folks love more than going downtown and slumming it with the poor/They pull up in their carriages and gawk at the students in the Commons just to watch ‘em talk/Take Philip Schuyler, the man is loaded, uh oh, but little does he know that/His daughters, Peggy, Angelica, Eliza sneak into the city just to watch all the guys at/Work, work, Angelica/Work, work, Eliza/And Peggy, the Schuyler sisters/Angelica, Peggy, Eliza, work

Summer In The Hamptons by Jonas Brothers (written by J. Bellion, P. Nappi, P. Jonas, N. Jonas, J. Cornett, F. Ferraro, G. Hein, E. Noll, J. Jonas)

Featured on the JoBros's 2023 album The Album, this is not a personal favorite of mine, but I know other fans who like it a lot. Shout out to New York vacation destination The Hamptons and to the season of summer, though.

Warm waterfalls stay falling on me/Your body takes me to some kind of place/Sex like summer in the Hamptons/Sex like summer in the Hamptons/Sex like summer in the Hamptons/I’m deep inside your sand, a different kind of warmness/My heart inside your hands, a thousand wild horses/Sex like summer in the Hamptons/Sex like summer in the Hamptons/Sex like, sex like/Sex like summer in the Hamptons

Dime Store Cowgirl by Kacey Mugraves (written by K. Musgraves, L. Laird, S. McAnally)

Featured on Musgraves's 2015 album Pageant Material, this boppy song takes us on a sort of musical tour through her career. There's so many shoutouts to various US town and cities, including her hometown of Golden, Texas.

I’ve had my picture made with Willie Nelson, stayed in a hotel with a pool/Drove through New Mexico where the Saguaro cactus grow, and I felt really small under Mount Rushmore/And I made it all the way past Austin City Limits/And maybe for a minute, I got too big for my britches, but/I’m just a dime store cowgirl, that’s all I’m ever gonna be/You can take me out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of me, no/‘Cause I’m still the girl from Golden, had to get away so I could grow/But it don’t matter where I’m going, I’ll still call my hometown home

My Shot (Rise Up Remix) by The Roots ft. Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz, & Nate Ruess (written by L. Miranda, R. Rodgers, O. Hammerstein, A. Johnson, C. Wallace, K. Muchita, O. Harvey, R. Troutman)

Featured on the 2016 The Hamilton Mixtape, this remix of My Shot from Act I of Hamilton is pretty sick. This is a sad reality of many, many Americans, but as Hamilton encourages us to do, no one should ever throw away their shot, no matter what life tells them or who discourages them.

Ayo, mugshot, gun shot, dope shot, jump shot, take your pick, but you only get one shot/Advice from a schoolteacher to a young tot applying a sticker to his Spider-Man lunchbox/When even role models tell us we’re born to be felons, we’re never getting into Harvard or Carnegie Mellon/And we gon’ end up either robbing somebody or killing, it’s not fair that’s all they can tell us/That’s why I hustle hella hard, never celebrate a holiday, that’ll be the day I coulda finally hit the lottery/I refuse to ever lose or throw my shot away or chalk it up as just another one that got away, so/I’m unapologetic, I’m on my calistenics, if I have given it all I got, I cannot regret it/My point of destination’s different from where I was headed 'cause I’ma shoot for the stars to get it, one shot/I said I’m not throwing away my shot, I said I’m not throwing away my shot/Yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy, and hungry, and I’m not throwing away my shot/I said I’m not throwing away my shot, no, I’m not throwing away my shot/Yo, I’m just like my country, I’m young, scrappy, and hungry, and I’m not throwing away my shot

However you're spending this weekend, I hope you have a safe, fun time with the people you care about. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!