I was going to either write today, on our Fourth of July, about a film I saw back in 1982 called The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters. It was from humorist writer Jean Shepherd, of A Christmas Story fame, and was a very funny depiction of a celebration of the Fourth in a 1940’ssmall midwestern city featuring all of Shepherd’s usual wonderfully caricatured characters.
Or I was simply going to show a video of the Bruce Springsteen song 4th of July Asbury Park. Like Shepherd’s story, it is the depiction of the Fourth in a small American town, except this is the 1960’s and 70’s New Jersey shore. It always brings back that feeling of the viewpoint of youth for me, the carefree attitude mixed with the feeling of every emotion like a nerve laid bare.
I opted for the Bruce. This is a great version of the song from back in 1975, at Hammersmith Odeon in London. The quality of the filming is exceptional and it’s great to see Bruce in his early form. Take a moment from your own Fourth, if you can, and take yourself to a different time and place. I can almost smell the fried dough…
Enjoy your 4th.
Redtree Times 
Hi – I was just google searching this amazingly nostalgic song, and found your blog. I agree with you, it is very transporting! Takes me right back to highschool circa ’76 in a little town in VT. I have relatives and friends from Jersey and have visited the shore…Bruce really captured the mood so perfectly. Thanks for posting the video, and Happy Independence Day to you. ~J
Thanks, Janice. Have a great 4th!