America, the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain.
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
America! America! America!

Katharine Lee Bates

The Star-Spangled Banner

Oh say! can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watch’d, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro’ the night that our flag was still there,
Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Francis Scott Key

The Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands.
One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
For all, for all!

George M. Cohan Patriotic Fantasy

(Yankee Doodle Boy)

I’m the kid that’s all the candy,
I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
I’m glad I am,
So’s Uncle Sam.
I’m a real live Yankee Doodle,
Made my name and fame and boodle,
Just like Mister Doodle did by riding on a pony.
I love to listen to the Dixie strain,
“I long to see the girl I left behind me;”
And that ain’t a josh,
She’s a Yankee, by gosh!
Oh, say, can you see
Anything about a Yankee that’s a phony?

I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
A Yankee Doodle do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam’s
Born on the Fourth of July,
I’ve got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She’s my Yankee Doodle joy.
Yankee Doodle came to London,
Just to ride the ponies,
I am a Yankee Doodle boy.

(You’re a Grand Old Flag)

You’re a grand old flag,
You’re a high-flying flag;
And forever, in peace, may you wave;
You’re the emblem of the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev’ry heart beats true,
Under Red, White, and Blue;
Where there’s never a boast or brag;
But, should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

You’re a grand old flag,
You’re a high-flying flag;
And forever, in peace, may you wave;
You’re the emblem of the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev’ry heart beats true,
Under Red, White, and Blue;
Where there’s never a boast or brag;
But, should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand, high-flying flag;
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Paul Revere’s Ride (Concord Hymn)

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North Church tower, as a signal light,—
One if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.”

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Excerpt of “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
    Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
    And fired the shot heard round the world.

Spirit that made those heroes dare
    To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
    The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Excerpt of “Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, written for the dedication of the Concord Monument.

The Declaration

(Excerpt from The Declaration of Independence)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

My Country, ‘Tis of Thee

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain-side
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
Thy rivers’ mighty sweep,
Thy mystic canyons deep,
Thy mountains wild and steep,
Bright stars above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

Liberty! Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!

Samuel Francis Smith

Song of Democracy

An old man’s thought of School;
An old man, gathering youthful memories and blooms,
that youth itself cannot.

Now only do I know you!
O fair auroral skies!
O morning dew upon the grass!

And these I see—these sparkling eyes,
These stores of mystic meaning—
These young lives,
Building, equipping, like a fleet of ships—
immortal ships!

Soon to sail out over the measureless seas,
On the Soul’s voyage.

Only a lot of boys and girls?
Only the tiresome spelling, writing,
ciphering classes?
Only a public school?
Ah more—infinitely more;
And you, America,
Cast you the real reckoning for your present?
The lights and shadows of your future—
good or evil?

To girlhood, boyhood look—the Teacher
and the School.

Sail—sail thy best, ship of Democracy!
Of value is thy freight—’tis not the Present only,
The Past is also stored in thee!
Thou holdest not the venture of thyself alone—
not of thy western continent alone;
Earth’s résumé entire floats on thy keel, O ship—is steadied by thy spars;

With thee Time voyages in trust—
the antecedent nations sink or swim with thee;
With all their ancient struggles, martyrs, heroes, epics, wars,
Thou bear’st the other continents;
Theirs, theirs as much as thine,
the destination-port triumphant.

Steer, then, with good strong hand and wary eye, O helmsman—
thou carriest great companions,
Venerable, priestly Asia sails this day with thee,
And royal, feudal Europe sails with thee.

Sail—sail thy best, ship of Democracy!
Of value is thy freight—’tis not the Present only,
The Past is also stored in thee!

Sail!

Walt Whitman

God Bless America

God bless America, land that I love;
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam:
God bless America, my home, sweet home.

God bless America, land that I love;
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam:
God bless America, my home, sweet home.
God bless America, my home, sweet home.

Irving Berlin

An American Hymn (Setting of “America the Beautiful”)

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America, America,
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

Katharine Lee Bates

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Emma Lazarus, from her sonnet, “The New Colossus”

I Lift My Lamp: America is Singing

Rejoice! Rejoice America!
Let’s celebrate our nation’s birth!

Semiquincentennial -
Is just a fancy way to say
We’ve been around 250 years

And in that time we’ve grown and changed
In ways the founding fathers
Might find somewhat surprising and strange

Inspired by their genius
We freed our slaves from bondage
Gave everyone the right to vote
And civil rights to all!

Let freedom ring across the land
From sea to sea, sing liberty
Join hearts, join hands, in brotherhood
And let us live in harmony
Rejoice! Rejoice in love and good!
“A house divided against itself
Cannot stand.”

“Our fathers fought for freedom
They struggled long and well”
To make this land a refuge
For life and liberty

Many came in search of sustenance
Others came escaping tyranny
Many came to worship as they wished
Others came to flee an endless war

Infinite waves of hope
From every corner of the Earth
Endless streams, countless dreams
Though we came for many reasons
We all sought the happiness
That comes from good, hard work

We sang as we built the roads
Cleared the fields, plowed the land
We sang the mines and canals
Built the bridges and dams

We sang as we built the cities
That shine and shout on the hills
Industry, science and tech
No one can keep us in check

Soon we’ll sing in flying cars
Floating cities, maybe Mars
We will sing as we disperse
We will rock the universe

Remember
     We took the land from others
     And sent them into exile
Remember
     We enslaved ten million people
     Our past is still on trial

America
     Yes we’ve got a few problems
America is singing
     But we can fix them together
America
     Let us all take a deep breath
America is singing
     And just listen to each other

But in our grand communion
In search of perfect union
There stands a mighty woman
Astride our golden gate

Her torch is like a star
For all the world to see
Reminding us of who we are
She shines the light of liberty

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Out of many, one
E pluribus, unum
May peace and love prevail on Earth
Rejoice, rejoice America!
Let’s celebrate our nation’s birth!

Quotations from Lincoln’s 1858 Senate Nomination Speech, 4th of July Ode by James Russell Lowell, and “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. Additional text by Ray Shattenkirk

This is My Country

What difference if I hail from North or South,
Or from the East or West?
My heart is filled with love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride, and deep within my breast
I thrill to see Old Glory paint the breeze!

This is my country, Land of my birth;
This is my country, Grandest on earth.
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country, to have and to hold!

With hand upon my heart I thank the Lord
For this, my native land,
For all I love is here within her gates.
My soul is rooted deeply in the soil on which I stand,
For these are mine, my own United States!

This is my country, Land of my choice;
This is my country, Hear my proud voice.
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country, to have and to hold!

This is my country, Land of my birth;
This is my country, Grandest on earth.
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country, to have and to hold!

Don Raye

This Land is Your Land

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

I’ve roamed and rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
All around me a voice was sounding,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun comes shining, and I am strolling,
And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting, a voice was chanting,
“This land was made for you and me.”

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie

Who Are the Brave

Who are the brave?
Those who go to war?
Who are the brave?
Those who fight no more?
Those who gave their lives
protecting freedom’s shore.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve in war.

Who are the brave?
Those who live with pain?
Who are the brave?
Those whose lives are plain?
Those with healthy bodies,
those protecting the unsure.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve the poor.

Who are the brave?
Those whose speech is free?
Who are the brave?
Those loving liberty?
All those with heart and mind,
protecting all they find.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve mankind.
These are the brave.

J. Paul Williams

America…The Dream Goes On

America, America, and the dream goes on!
America, America, and the dream goes on!

There’s a song in the dust of a county road,
on the wind it comes to call
And it sings in the farms and the fac’try towns
And where you think there’d be no song at all.

And the words are the words that our fathers heard
as they whistled down the years.
And the name of the song is the name of the dream
and it’s music to our ears.

America, America, and the dream goes on!
America, America, and the dream goes on!

And the words that we read on the courthouse walls
and the words that make us free.
And the more we remember the way we began,
the closer we get to the best we can be.

Was there ever a time we forgot it’s worth
all the struggles and the scars;
If we leave to the children a sky full of hope
and a flag that’s filled with stars.

America, America, and the dream goes on!

Remember the voice of Jefferson
and the sound of Thomas Paine.
Lincoln sang at Gettysburg about America.
Listen well to the wind and you can hear
from Oregon to Maine;
America, America!

Though the voices are changing,
the song’s the same as it sings from sea to sea.
And as long as the music is strong and clear,
we’ll know that tomorrow will always be free.

America, America, and the dream goes on!
America, America, and the dream goes on!

Alan & Marilyn Bergman

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watchfires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence in the dim and flaring lamps,
His day is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
Amen!

Julia Ward Howe

Let There Be Peace on Earth

Let there be peace on earth
     And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
     The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father
     Brothers all are we;
Let me walk with my brother
     In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me;
     Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
     Let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment
     In peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth
     And let it begin with me.

Jill Jackson & Sy Miller