Songfacts®:

• This song and its humorously patriotic video find Smith's comedic alter ego Earl Dibbles Jr. taking center stage. "One of my goals in writing this one was to try and capture who Earl is for those who might not know anything about him. From the first line, you can picture who Earl is," Smith explained. "Earl Dibbles Jr. allows me to work way outside the typical parameters of country music, and this song adds another tangible layer to who Earl is."
• Earl Dibbles Jr. first caught fire with "The Country Boy Song," which became a YouTube smash. Smith explained: "We created alter-egos through videos to help promote the music and that's where Earl Dibbles Jr. came from in the summer of 2011. It started as a short, funny video that my brothers and I filmed out where my parents live in Central Texas, but it turned out to be something that completely changed the shape of my career.
  
  I actually like to think of it as an "intentional accident" because as planned, the video went viral and became a huge promotional tool for my music. But we had no way to know if it would actually work, especially since many of my videos before it never caught fire."
• "Merica" is one of the three tracks on Remington from Dibbles Jr.: "Country Boy Love" and "City Boy Stuck," also feature the cartoonish redneck character. They are the last three songs on the album.
• Kenny Rogers also cut a track whose title drops the first letter of America. His "Merica" was recorded for the veteran singer's 2013 album You Can't Make Old Friends.
• Though the song is humorous, Smith's intention to honor the American men and women who serve their country is serious. "We talk about these big, American things in a very funny, but proud, way - celebrating it, in a way," he said. "To me, it's great because that song puts patriotism in America front and center at whatever festival or concert we play. We make sure that America is front and center, because I'm so proud of the opportunities that we have here."