Solace for those who love America

Gopher

Hello all citizens of different nations.

This post is partly in response to Vienna's "American Flag" thread. The feeling of living in the cradle of freedom has only been enhanced by the cowardly attacks on Washington DC and New York City this week. Americans of all stripes are sensing & expressing their solidarity as never before.

All citizens of free countries owe at least some gratitude toward the lead America has taken. I take no credit to myself for happening to live here in America, however I am obligated to acknowledge the freedoms this country has brought to citizens here and throughout the world. It is in this spirit (and not anything against any other nation or religious group), these lyrics (which have been running through my mind these past few days) are presented for your consideration and enjoyment. THANK YOU.

God Bless the U.S.A.
by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
from sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

"God Bless America"
by Irving Berlin (1939)

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her,
Through the night with the 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
God Bless America
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.

GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

dungbeetle

Gopher...

It's about time,
It's about place;
It's about time we SAW YOUR FACE!!!

Welcome back dear!!

dungbeetle...cleaning up the crap.

Englishman

Gopher,

Well, OK, here we are all singing American songs, but no-one in the UK seems to know the words to the Star Spangled banner. Isn't it:

Der der der der der der

Der der der der der der!

Der der der der der der - der der der der der der, in the land of the free.

Englishman.

..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.

Gopher

Ok Englishman, you asked for it:

The Star-Spangled Banner
—Francis Scott Key, 1814

O 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, thro' 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.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

AND FOR GOOD MEASURE.......

America the Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates (1913)

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 stem 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 the 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!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America ! America !
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

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
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Naeblis

YOu know I've never really read all that before. It's very well written.

jurs

Hey Gopher,

I love your posts because they are always uplifting !!!!! What a beautiful song.......... Jurs

Gopher

Laura, thanks a lot for the compliment!

Father Naeblis, thanks for checking in from the land up north!

GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

safe4kids

Hey (((gopher))),

Thanks for the lyrics and the inspirational post. I've bookmarked this thread. I heard on the radio yesterday the song by Lee Greenwood interspersed with cuts from the Pres and victims of the WTC tragedy...it brought tears to my eyes.

Hope all is well with you Goph...take care.

Dana

Tina

(((((((goph and all)))))))))))))
Thank you for this thread!! luv to all,T

Carl Sagan on balancing openness to new ideas with skeptical scrutiny..."if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense-you cannot distinguish useful ideas from worthless ones."

Solace for those who love America

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