What is America to me
A name, a map, 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, all 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 at my side
The little town or city where my people lived and died
The "howdy" and the handshake, the air of feeling free
The right to speak my mind out that's America to me
The things I see about me the big things and the small
The little corner newsstand and the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard, the laughter and the tears,
The dream that's been a growin' for twohundred thirty 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 club house, the million lights I see
But especially the people that's America to me
Especially the people that's America to me