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, the 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,
That’s 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,
That’s 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,
The dream that’s 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 a garden all in bloom;
The church, the school, the clubhouse,
The millions lights I see,
But, especially the people
That’s America to me.