Anthem

Oh I fell in love, like they do in the magazines,
On a football field, it was a long daydream.
All my high school spent in faithful disbelief
I know that he looks dumb, but he's smart underneath.
They say I'm a bright kid, and I have a future,
With the Puritan blessing of Work to be done,
But to see him cradling that beer is all that I'm seeing.

But now it's college days, and now I'm driving home
With my list of books to read and that self-important tone
And my parents, I read them like the news
I know where they went wrong and they're not friends I would choose.
And there's a sunset over the mountains
I shout my scorn to the splendorous sky,
For how does this light compare to all the world suffering?

But now it's a working day, I've lain those gloves to rest.
And now I'm hanging over the sink with a pregnancy test.
You can relax, babe, results are negative.
Oh but how I thought of kids, who they'd be, about where we'd live.
And I saw them climbing up Break Neck Ridge.
They found the neighbors' woods for to make them their own,
And I'll see them dancing across the lawns of my homeland.

We found the town in sixteen forty-one,
For to farm and to pray and Metro North to run.
We took the fields, the marsh and the moon and the sun
We got to work before the day was done.
And I'll see them dancing across the lawns of my homeland.
I am an American.
From the fourth grade turkey pageant to the protest march I stand.
I am an American.
I know there's blood in the pavement and we've turned the fields to sand.
Hey I know where I come from, but I have a question,
Shall we the people never come home?
For after all that we've been are the dreams to come after.