Anthem

Anthem Lyrics

Oh I fell in love like they do in the magazines 
On a football field . . . it was a long daydream 
All my high school spent in faithful disbelief 
I know that he looks dumb but he's smart underneath 

They say I'm a bright kid, and I have a future 
With the puritan blessing of work to be done 
But to see him cradling that beer is all that I'm seeing 

But then come college days 
And now I'm driving home 
With my list of books to read 
And that self-important tone 
And my parents . . . I read them like the news 
I know where they went wrong 
And they're not friends I would choose 

And there's a sunset over the mountains 
I shout my scorn to the splendorous sky 
For how does this light compare to all the world's suffering 

But now it's a working day 
I've lain my gloves to rest 
And now I'm hanging over the sink with a pregnancy test 
You can relax babe, results are negative 
Oh but how I thought of kids and who they'd be 
About where we'd live 

And I saw them climbing up Breakneck Ridge 
They found the neighbor's woods for to make them their own 
And I'll see them dancing across the lawns of my homeland 

We found the town in Sixteen-Forty-One 
For to farm and to pray and Metro North to run 
We took the fields, the marsh and the moon and the sun 
We got to work before the day was done 
Oh ay-yay, ay-ay-yay 

And I'll see them dancing across the lawns of my homeland (Asus) 
I am an American 
From the 4th grade turkey pageant to the protest march I stand 
Oh I am an American 
I know there's blood on the pavement and we turn the fields to sand 

Hey I know where I come from 
But I have a question 
Shall We the People never come home 
For after all that we've been 
Are the dreams to come after?