Elsewhere, TheSonoranSon, official youngest brother of NewMexiKen, suggests that “America the Beautiful” would be better than “The Star-Spangled Banner” as a national anthem. NewMexiKen agrees.
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!
The lyrics (above is just the first stanza) were originally written as a poem by Katharine Lee Bates after a trip to Pikes Peak. The poem was first published in 1895 and for years sung to various melodies, most notably “Auld Lang Syne.” In 1910 the lyric was published with the music for “Materna,” composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882.
Of course, in a perfect world our national anthem would be Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”
This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.
I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Amen.