The House I Live In Lyrics by Abel Meeropol Music by Earl Robinson What is America to me A name, a map, or a flag I see A certain word, democracy What is America to me The house I live in A plot of earth, a street The grocer and the butcher Or the people that I meet The children in the playground The faces that I see All races and religions Thats America to me The place I work in The worker by my side The little town the city Where my people lived and died The howdy and the handshake The air a feeling free And the right to speak your mind out Thats America to me The things I see about me The big things and the small That little corner newsstand Or the house a mile tall The wedding and the churchyard The laughter and the tears And the dream thats been a growing For more than two hundred years The town I live in The street, the house, the room The pavement of the city Or the garden all in bloom The church the school the clubhouse The millions lights I see But especially the people - yes especially the people Thats America to me The house I live in, My neighbors white and black, The people who just came here, Or from generations back; The town hall and the soapbox, The torch of liberty, A home for all Gods children; Thats America to me. The words of old Abe Lincoln, Of Jefferson and Paine, Of Washington and Jackson And the tasks that still remain; The little bridge at Concord, Where Freedoms fight began, Our Gettysburg and Midway And the story of Bataan. The house I live in, The goodness everywhere, A land of wealth and beauty, With enough for all to share; A house that we call Freedom, A home of Liberty, And it belongs to fighting people Thats America to me. |