America, My Dream

Every folksinger secretly wants to write their own version of “This Land is Your Land.” This song is mine. After four years of watching war and torture dressed up as “patriotism,” I wanted to make a positive statement about America’s real values…like Texas barbecue.

I love the desert in the springtime.
Yes, and I love the mountains in the fall,
River a-singing like a windchime,
Cross the prairie where wild coyotes call.
I love the Kansas corn a-waving.
When it’s a-standing six foot tall.
Yes, and I love to walk the Appalachians,
Watch the waves in a wild Pacific squall.

CHORUS
Here on the banks of Turtle Island,
This land where the pilgrim’s breathing free
We ain’t all made it, but we won’t stop trying.
That’s our miracle, and that’s America, my dream.

I love to see the human rainbow,
Collecting the colors of the globe.
Black, white and red and brown and yellow,
Mixed in a melting pot of gold.
I love a Louisiana gumbo,
Yes, and I love a Texas barbecue.
I love the polka and the rhumba,
And the moan of the Mississippi blues.

CHORUS

I love the simple acts of bravery,
By heroes whose names I’ll never know.
Yes, and I love the land that gave up slavery,
And pulled all the feathers from Jim Crow.
Our fathers and mothers made a nation,
And all we inherit is a dream,
And it’s up to every generation
To find out what freedom really means.

CHORUS
And we’ll keep on dreaming while our flag is flying.
That’s our miracle, and that’s America, my dream.

Words and music © 2004 by Steve Brooks and Frog Records
(512) 440-7668
[email protected]
www.stevebrooks.net

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