Billboard's "Chart Rewind" feature revisits June 1986, when Willie Nelson's "Living in the Promiseland" reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Written by David Lynn Jones, the song borrowed from Emma Lazarus's Statue of Liberty poem to champion immigration, and its rise coincided with the landmark's reopening after restoration — a timely pairing that made it something of an anthem for the moment.

The track debuted in March 1986 and climbed to the top over 12 weeks, peaking a week before Liberty Weekend (3-6 July). Jones was inspired by Vietnamese and Cuban immigrants of the 1970s and '80s, and Nelson — who called it the best patriotic song he had heard — recorded it on Thanksgiving 1985. Nelson performed it at Farm Aid II and the Liberty Weekend closing ceremony, and the song has resurfaced recently, sung by Chris Stapleton on "The Late Show" in May and reprised at Nelson's 2026 Fourth of July Picnic.