Ballad for Americans

In seventy-six the sky was red

Thunder rumbling overhead

Bad King George couldn't sleep in his bed

And on that stormy morn Ol' Uncle Sam was born

Some birthday

Ol' Sam put on a three cornered hat

And in a Richmond church he sat

And Patrick Henry told him that while

America drew breath

It was "Liberty or death "

What kind of hat is a three-cornered hat

Did they all believe in liberty in those days

Nobody who was anybody believed it

Ev'rybody who was anybody they doubted it

Nobody had faith

Nobody Nobody but Washington Tom Paine

Benjamin Franklin

Chaim Solomon Crispus Attucks

Lafayette Nobodies

The nobodies ran a trea party at Boston

Betsy Ross

Organized a sewing circle

Paul Revere had a horse race

And a little ragged group believed it

And some gentlemen and ladies believed it

And some wise men and some fools

And I believed it too

And you know who I am

No Who are you mister Yeah how come all this

Well I'll tell you

No let us tell you

Mister Tom Jefferson a mighty fine man

He wrote it down in a mighty fine plan

And the rest all signed it with a mighty fine hand

As they crossed thier T's and dotted their I's

A bran' new country did arise

And a mighty fine idea

"Adopted unanimously in Congress July 4 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident

That all men are created equal

That they are endowed by their

Creator with certain inalienable rights

That among these rights are Life

Yes sir Liberty That's right

And the pursuit of happiness

Is that what they said The very words

That does sound mighty fine

Building a nation is awful tough

The people found the going rough

Some lived in cities some worked the land

And united they did stand

To make our country grand )

Still nobody who was anybody believed it

Everybody who anybody they stayed at home

But Lewis and Clarke and the pioneers

Driven by hunger haunted by fears

The Klondike miners and the forty niners

Some wanted freedom and some wanted riches

Some liked to loaf while others dug ditches

But they believed it And I believed it too

And you know who I am

No who are you anyway Mister

Well I started to tell you

Let my people go That's the idea

Old Abe Lincoln was thin and long

His heart was high and his faith was strong

But he hated oppression he hated wrong

And he went down to his grave to free the slave

A man in white skin can never be free

While his black brother is in

Slavery

"And we here highly resolve that

These dead shall not have died in vain

And this government of the people

By the people and for the people

Shall not perish from the Earth "

Abraham Lincoln said that on November 19

1863 at Gettysburg Pennsylvania

And he was right I believe that too

Say we still don't know who you are mister

Well I started to tell you

The machine age came with a great big roar

As America grew in peace and war

And a million wheels went around and 'round

The cities reached into the sky

And dug down deep into the ground

And some got rich and some got poor

But the people carried through

So our country grew

Still nobody who was anybody believed it

Everybody who was anybody they doubted it

And they are doubting still

And I guess they always will

But who cares what they say whem I am on my way

Say will you please tell us who you are

What's your name Buddy Where you goin'

Who are you

Well I'm the everybody who's nobody

I'm the nobody who's everybody

What's your racket What do you do for a living

Well I'm an

Engineer musician street cleaner carpenter

Teacher

How about a farmer Also Office clerk Yes sir

That's right Homemaker ) Certainly

Factory worker You said it Mail carrier )

Yes ma'am

Hospital worker ) Absotively Social worker )

Posolutely

Truck driver Definitely

Miner seamstress ditchdigger all of them

I am the "etceteras" and the "and so forths"

That do the work

Now hold on here what are you trying to give us

Are you an American

Am I an American

I'm just an Irish African) Jewish Italian

French and English Spanish Russian Chinese

Polish

Scotch Hungarian Jamaican) Swedish Finnish

Dominican) Greek and

Turk and Czech

And Native American)

And that ain't all

I was baptized Baptist Methodist

Congregationalist Luthern

Atheist Roman Catholic Moslem) Jewish

Presbyterian Seventh Day

Adventist

Mormon Quaker Christian Scientist and lots more

You sure are something

Our country's strong our country's young

And her greatest songs are still unsung

From her plains and mountains we have sprung

To keep the faith with those who went before

We nobodies who are anybody belive it

We anybodies who are everybody have no doubts

Out of the cheating out of the shouting

It will come again

Strong as the people who made it

For I have always believed it

And I believe it now

And now you know who I am

Who are you

America America