Four For The Fourth: Songs For America

See what NPR chose and listen to them all. What would your choices be–KSH?

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Music

3 comments on “Four For The Fourth: Songs For America

  1. Jeffersonian says:

    How about [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC-JhQ1p7nw]”Song for America”[/url]?

    Virgin land of forest green
    Dark and stormy plain
    Here all life abounds
    Sunlit valley, mountain fields
    Unseen in the rain
    Here all life abounds

    No man rules this land
    No human hand has soiled this paradise
    Waiting patiently
    So much to see
    So rich in Earth’s delights

    Painted desert, sequined sky
    Stars that fill the night
    Here all life abounds
    Rivers flowing to the sea
    Sunshine pure and bright
    Here all life abounds

    No man rules this land
    No human hand has soiled this paradise
    Waiting patiently
    So much to see
    So rich in Earth’s delights

    So the maiden lies in waiting
    Pull the sailor into shore
    Land of beauty and abundance
    Innocent, you opened wide your door

    Wanderers found the waiting treasure
    Full of gifts beyond their measure
    Milk and Honey for our pleasure

    Across the sea there came a multitude
    Sailing ships upon the wave
    Filled with visions of Utopia
    And the freedom that they crave

    Ravage, plunder, see no wonder
    Rape and kill and tear asunder
    Chop the forest, plow it under

    Highways scar the mountainside
    Buildings to the sky
    People all around
    Unsustaining in these roads
    See an eternity
    People all around

    So we rule this land
    And here we stand
    Upon our paradise
    Dreaming of a place
    Our weary race
    Is ready to arise

  2. William P. Sulik says:

    Nice, Jeff. I’ll go with the more prosaic:

    Back in the U.S.A.
    Chuck Berry

    Oh well oh well I feel so good today
    We just touched ground on an international runway
    Jet-propelled back home from overseas to the USA

    New York, Los Angeles
    Oh how I yearn for you
    Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
    Let alone just to be at my home back in ol’ St Lou’

    Did I miss the skyscrapers
    Did I miss the long freeway
    From the coast of California
    To the shores of the Delaware Bay
    You can bet your life I did
    Till I got back to the USA

    Looking hard for a drive-in
    Searching for a corner cafe
    Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
    Yeah, and the jukebox jumping with records back in the USA

    I’m so glad I’m living in the USA
    Yes I’m so glad I’m living in the USA
    Anything you want we got it right here in the USA

  3. Ralinda says:

    Fanfare for the Common Man–because it’s so uplifting and we are in many ways a nation of commen men and women. Our parish always has a special service on the Sunday closest to the 4th with the brass section of the orchestra supplying special music–and before the processional they always play this.
    Today our rector preached on the pursuit of happiness and how that is best expressed in the beatitudes (Jerusalem Bible uses happy rather than blessed) rather than in consumerism and the me-centered view of happiness so prevalent in our culture.