"For America" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne from his 1986 album Lives in the Balance.

[4] Although concern with the state of the world has always been found in Browne's lyrics ("Doctor My Eyes", "For Everyman"), the more specifically referenced socio-political awareness of the previous album's lead single "Lawyers in Love" became even more overt and political in "For America" (the title of which seems to deliberately link the song to two of Browne's earlier "eulogy" songs, "For a Dancer" and "For a Rocker").

And the album from which it came, Lives in the Balance, is seen as his first overall "political" album, so critical reaction to the song reflected a perception of this movement in Browne's lyrical themes toward more specific and biting lines in "sharply etched political songs (that) question cultural imperialism, foreign policy and the current state of the American Dream:'"[5] The thing I wonder about the Dads and Moms — Who send their sons to the Vietnams — Will they really think their way of life Has been protected as the next war comes?

Critiquing the musical and production aesthetics, Guterman complains "a gratuitous Clarence Clemons-derived sax riff that mars 'For America' distracts the listener.

[6] The "first single, 'For America', is indicative of the collection's tone – staunchly anti-war and embittered by the sense of ironic betrayal that characterized political songwriting during the Nixon years," noted Billboard magazine upon the song's release.