4th of July

4th of July

Cold War Kids

“4th of July” by Cold War Kids is a reflection on its narrator’s climbing of the social ladder and relationships.

The lyrics focus firstly on the surface, the endless summer, good vibes, and mindless consumerism, but as the song continues, it becomes clearer to the speaker that these things are finite and ultimately useless, highlighting, into the second verse, that moving from “living hand to mouth and day to day” doesn’t mean the luxuries don’t “lie” once they arrive.

Now, on the Fourth of July no less, the narrator wonders, looking at the love of their life, how did they make to where they are, “living in paradise”?

Ultimately, the speaker realizes that it was the person beside them, the “you” of this narrative, who got them so far: “I think that I’m special, you say that it’s selfish, I’ll never forget what you gave up for me.”