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In the Loop: January 20, 2009 Archive

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As a public service: The lyrics to that God-awful 'America' song on Oprah

Posted at 4:19 PM on January 20, 2009 by Jeff Horwich (8 Comments)

Full of cliches and pablum, signifying nothing, Oprah's live-from-Lincoln-Center show on Monday featured the debut of some We-Are-The-World-ish anthem dreamed up in the level of musical hell previously reserved only for Lee Greenwood and whoever wrote that "Eagle Soared" song that John Ashcroft sang. (Oh, wait...that would be John Ashcroft.)

I looked all around the web for the lyrics. Finding them nowhere, I figured the world needed to see them laid bare, preserved for posterity, so I started typing. Readers, I bring you: "America's Song (aka 'America Is Beautiful')."

Will.i.am:
From Delaware to Tennesse to Hawaii
From mountaintops we have dreamed from sea to shining sea
And now here we are

Faith Hill:
We have come, we have prevailed
Whosoever dreamed
This is your whale (???)
And here we are, here we are

Seal:
At the dawn of the morning
For a brand new day (brand new day)
For all, in the spirit of our fathers

All (chorus):
America America America
Is beautiful (beautiful, yes it is)
My America, your America, our America
Is beautiful
And may God (may God) keep us together
Cause America (America) is beautiful (is beautiful, yeah)


Bono:
Let liberty and justice ring for all
Let your dreams stand tall
May opportunities fall upon you
In the land of the free

Mary J. Blige:
We have come and we have prevailed
For whosoever dreamed
This is your whale (seriously, what is this line???)
And here we are

All:
At the start, that horizon
Of the brand new day
For all, in the spirit of our fathers

(repeat chorus, quite literally ad nauseum)
America America America
Is beautiful (beautiful, yes it is)...

For my money, the most ridiculous line: At the dawn of the morning for a brand new day. Triple-redundancy!

But the whole thing is garbage-y garbage. America can make way better music than this.

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