There’s something about the atmosphere in America right now that’s disgusting. The values that America once so proudly boasted have become grotesquely perverted. It’s heartbreaking. We’ve forgot that America was built on the backs of immigrants and was once called a promise land. I could go on and write a novel about this, but I’m just going to share this song performed by Willie Nelson. As Willie said before he played it in Washington D.C. at the DAR Constitution Hall before a crowd that included a few lawmakers:
“I think this is one of the most appropriate songs that we could do for this period in America. Many years ago, I recorded this song and I felt like this might be a good time to kind of try to bring it back”
Nelson was in Washington accepting the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Watch the performance below. I’ve included the lyrics below the video.
And we will make them strong
Bring us your foreign songs
And we will sing along
Leave us your broken dreams
We’ll give them time to mend
There’s still a lot of love
Living in the Promiseland
Living in the Promiseland
Our dreams are made of steel
The prayer of every man
Is to know how freedom feels
There is a winding road
Across the shifting sand
And room for everyone
Living in the Promiseland
So they came from a distant isle
Nameless woman
Faithless child like a bad dream
Until there was no room at all
No place to run, and no place to fall
Give us our daily bread
We have no shoes to wear
No place to call our home
Only this cross to bear
We are the multitudes
Lend us a helping hand
Is there no love anymore
Living in the Promiseland
Living in the Promiseland
Our dreams are made of steel
The prayer of every man
Is to know how freedom feels
There is a winding road
Across the shifting sand
And room for everyone
Living in the Promiseland
Featured image by joshbg2k via Flickr under CC by 2.0.
