I Love the USA

"I Love the USA"
Single by Weezer
Album	The White Album (Deluxe)
Released	June 29, 2016
Format	digital, CD (Japan-only)
Recorded	Spring 2016; The Lair, Los Angeles, CA
Length	3:10
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Sam Hollander
Producer(s)	Jake Sinclair
Status	Officially Released
Live debut	July 9, 2016
Stream	Spotify
	Apple Music
Weezer singles chronology
The White Album (Deluxe) track listing
	15 tracks "California Kids"; "Wind in Our Sail"; "Thank God for Girls"; "(Girl We Got a) Good Thing"; "Do You Wanna Get High?"; "King of the World"; "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori"; "L.A. Girlz"; "Jacked Up"; "Endless Bummer"; Deluxe Edition bonus tracks ; "I Love the USA"; "Jacked Up" (Remix); "Friend of a Friend"; "Fake Smiles and Nervous Laughter"; Japanese bonus track ; / 15. "Prom Night";
	15 tracks "California Kids"; "Wind in Our Sail"; "Thank God for Girls"; "(Girl We Got a) Good Thing"; "Do You Wanna Get High?"; "King of the World"; "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori"; "L.A. Girlz"; "Jacked Up"; "Endless Bummer"; Deluxe Edition bonus tracks ; "I Love the USA"; "Jacked Up" (Remix); "Friend of a Friend"; "Fake Smiles and Nervous Laughter"; Japanese bonus track ; / 15. "Prom Night";
Alternate cover
	Single artwork

"I Love the USA" is a single released by Weezer on June 29, 2016. It was later included as the 11th track of the deluxe edition of The White Album, released October 7 the same year.

Appearances

"I Love the USA" (digital single)
Weezer (The White Album) (Deluxe) (2016)

Overview

Songfacts: Is there a hint of sarcasm in the Weezer song "I Love The USA"?

Sam Hollander: You'd have to ask Rivers. On that one, we sat out back and he had this title that I just adored, and he was singing "I love the USA." We were playing around with strange fragments of imagery that I thought should not connect in any way, shape or form. That's the way Rivers' mind works. There's just so many interesting visuals.

—Songfacts interview with Sam Hollander, 2020^[1]

Rivers Cuomo was inspired to write "I Love the USA" in April of 2016 while the band was promoting The White Album in Europe.^[2] "We were on tour abroad, and it got me thinking a lot about America, which lead to me write 'I Love the USA.'" Cuomo also said in a July 2016 interview that he began writing the song "about a year" earlier ^{[citation needed]}. The band was later approached by Apple Music and NASA to take part in a celebration of NASA's Juno spacecraft's arrival at Jupiter on July 4. Cuomo said that the song "seemed like the perfect fit" to commemorate the occasion.

The song is notable for being the first officially-released Weezer track in which Rivers sings the word "fuck." Both a clean and an explicit version were released. The clean version replaces all instances of "fuck" with "eff." A 1:20 alternate clean edit was used in an August 2016 Team USA Olympics promo and replaced "fuck yeah" with "oh yeah."

The song was released exclusively through Apple Music on June 29. It was released as a single and put on Spotify on September 2 with new artwork. The song was later included as a bonus track on the deluxe version of The White Album.

Music video

The music video was directed by SCANTRON and No. 2 Pencil and features comedian Patton Oswalt. It premiered on October 9, 2016.

Lyrics

Ain't that bad a place
I was born that way
I bite my fingernails
Still got bills to pay
You should know what to say
I'll put you in your place
Land of the free
I'm on my way

I love the USA
I love the USA
Fuck yeah this place is great
I love the USA

Stop at Coffee Bean
This is like a dream
Let's run across the beach
Mama, what's the deal?
Nothing's wrong with me
Still waters running deep
Home of the brave
Dog on a leash

I love the USA
I love the USA
Fuck yeah this place is great
I love the USA

God save the king
God save the king
God save the king
Won't feel a thing
God save the king
God save the king
God save the king

I love the USA
I love the USA
Fuck yeah this place is great
I love the USA

Fuck yeah this place is great
I love the USA

Planes up in the sky
There's a missing man
A boy who didn't make it

Known recordings

*about this table*
Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	I Love the USA	`I Love The USA 5 verses Bigger Than Us @104.mp3`	2015—2016
Rivers Cuomo	I Love the USA	`I Love The USA 7 ballad vocal @104.mp3`	2015—2016
Rivers Cuomo	I Love the USA	`I Love The USA 8 full time piano @104.mp3`	2015—2016
Rivers Cuomo	I Love the USA	`I Love The USA 15 memorial day @104.mp3`	2015—2016
Rivers Cuomo	I Love the USA	`I Love The USA 16 vocal jam solo @108.mp3`	2015—2016
Weezer	I Love the USA		2016	3:10	Digital single Weezer (The White Album) (Deluxe)
Weezer	I Love the USA		2016	3:10	Digital single	Clean edit

References

↑ Wiser, Carl. Interview with Sam Hollander. Songfacts. 11 January 2020. https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/sam-hollander. Archived version: [1]
↑ Weezer [@weezer] "We were on tour abroad, and it got me thinking a lot about America, which lead to me write “I Love The USA." When @AppleMusic & @NASA asked us to be involved with Juno’s historic landing on July 4th, this song seemed like the perfect fit. - @Rivers_Cuomo #🚀#🇺🇸 — download “I Love The USA" now exclusively on iTunes or stream it on Apple Music." Instagram. 30 June 2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/BHQ0rPWhXRw/

[1] Wiser, Carl. Interview with Sam Hollander. Songfacts. 11 January 2020. https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/sam-hollander. Archived version: [1]

[2] Weezer [@weezer] "We were on tour abroad, and it got me thinking a lot about America, which lead to me write “I Love The USA." When @AppleMusic & @NASA asked us to be involved with Juno’s historic landing on July 4th, this song seemed like the perfect fit. - @Rivers_Cuomo #🚀#🇺🇸 — download “I Love The USA" now exclusively on iTunes or stream it on Apple Music." Instagram. 30 June 2016. https://www.instagram.com/p/BHQ0rPWhXRw/

[1]

[2]

view talk edit Weezer (The White Album)
Rivers Cuomo Patrick Wilson Brian Bell Scott Shriner
	Standard tracks	"California Kids" "Wind in Our Sail" "Thank God for Girls" "(Girl We Got a) Good Thing" "Do You Wanna Get High?" "King of the World" "Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori" "L.A. Girlz" "Jacked Up" "Endless Bummer"
	Bonus tracks	"I Love the USA" "Friend of a Friend" "Fake Smiles and Nervous Laughter" "Prom Night"
	Outtakes	"The Last Days of Summer"
	Related articles	Physical Release Catalog page White Album Tour Alone XII: The White Year Weezer (The Black Album) wannabeezer Jake Sinclair
Weezer albums: The Blue Album (1994) Pinkerton (1996) Songs from the Black Hole The Green Album (2001) Maladroit (2002) Make Believe (2005) The Red Album (2008) Raditude (2009) Hurley (2010) Death to False Metal (2010) Everything Will Be Alright in the End (2014) Ecce Homo The White Album (2016) Pacific Daydream (2017) The Teal Album (2019) The Black Album (2019) OK Human (2021) Van Weezer (2021) SZNZ (2022) Spring Summer Autumn Winter Weezer's twentieth album