| Colors
Red as the bloodshed, blue as the wounded
White as the crosses on our soldiers' graves
Through the rain, through the sun
These colors never run
I first saw her standing on the corner of a stage
And I've been pledging my allegiance ever since
We often take for granted her old familiar wave
But that freedom cost a lot of brave young men and women
It's one that's....
Now I've seen people treat her like she was some old rag
Clueless to the human sacrifice
But you'll always see a mother, a widow, a child or a brother
With a carefully folded teardrop in their eyes
It's one that's...
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| The
Absence Of Love
The churches are empty, the jails are all full
It's over our own eyes we're pulling wool
Making us blind to decay from within
Misguided values where greed is no sin
Schools are all open but Johnny can't read
With hands tied behind them the teachers just plead
Johnny needs parents who honestly care
But they're busy working with no time to spare
So blame it on Washington, blame it on me
Blame it on drugs or the next guy you see
Blame it on money when push comes to shove
But the blame really lies in the absence
The absence of love
Guns on the streets, drugs on the rise
That victims are children should be no surprise
They become what they are from watching adults
We all took the test, these are the results
Now it's bars on the windows and locks on the doors
They look more like prisons than houses and stores
It's a moral dilemma wherever you go
When love says good-bye, ill will says hello
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| The Home
Stretch
Turned off the interstate at midnight
Made the home stretch once again
I grew up running up and down this old road
Boy, it's changed a lot since way back then
Warm familiar feeling highway, twenty miles of memories
Mama and Papa, they still live there
So more than anywhere it's home to me
The home stretch
I'm on the home stretch
This old truck can't take me fast enough down the home stretch
When Papa called his voice was shaking
It never trembled in his prime
He said "Son, your mama's rounded that last turn"
She's calling for you boy, and you don't have much time
Mama wasn't afraid of dying
Just a trip to Heaven for her reward
She said "It's only part of living. The dyin's easy, but the leavin's hard
We were holding hands when Mama slipped away
Through my tears I saw her smile, then I heard her say
The home stretch, I'm on the home stretch
Angel's wings can't take me fast enough down the home stretch
Warm familiar feeling highway
Down the home stretch once again
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|
American Beauty
A '57 Chevy, red and white
American beauty
Levi blue jeans twistin' all night
American beauty
A Texas star in a cowboy's eyes
Shinin' like a diamond from sea to sea
American beauty American beauty
A Zebco fishin' pole fishin' downstream
American beauty
Strummin' on a '48 D-18
American beauty
Hot dogs, baseball, popcorn, football
A cheer for victory
NASCAR racecar number 3
American beauty, American beauty
From north to south, from coast to coast
You can see it everywhere you
Miles of wheat fields rollin' to the sky
American beauty
A great white spaceship, Enterprise
American beauty
A stampede of buffalo, Sitting Bull, Geronimo
An eagle on the wing
From Alabama with a banjo on my knee
American beauty, American beauty
She stands at the harbor in the city of dreams
American beauty
Prettiest face I've ever seen
American beauty
And she carries a torch and she won't let go
I love her with all my heart and soul
I'd give my life to keep her free
American beauty, American beauty
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This Is America
The sun comes up and shines like gold across the ocean waves
A nation blessed with all the best as we begin our day
We know the price of freedom, we see it every day
We'll pay the debt, 'cause you can bet, we love the U.S.A.
This is our homeland, this is America
We won't give up, we won't give in
'Cause this is America
We trust in God, 'cause this is America
Let's take a stand, we love this land
This is America
The enemy has hurt us, violence knocked us to the ground
An emptiness surrounds us, pain of loss is all around
This threat to our freedom has renewed our will to fight
Our battle cry is victory, we know we'll do what's right
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An American Family
(originally appeared on American Dreams,
this is a newly recorded version)
Worked all his life in the rail yards
Summer heat winter cold
He sits by the fire, now he's retired
But he don’t really feel all that old.
She comes in from the kitchen
And sits on the arm of his chair
He looks up and says “hey lady I love you”
Runs his fingers through her hair.
There’s a picture on the wall of Jesus in the garden
It’s been there since they got the house in ’53,
It ain’t no big deal, won’t ever go down in history
It’s just a little story of an American family.
She waited for him in World War II
He fought the European campaign,
Their son John spent two years in 'Nam
That war it wasn’t the same.
Billy’s out in L.A., he’s a lawyer now
They worry he’s so far away,
Jeannie got married, and lives here in town
She's comin’ over with the kids today.
But the whole world is different now
Blood's been spilled on our shores
In hard times we pull together
That's what a family's for
Hey it ain't no big deal
It's written in our history
We're all part of the story of
An American Family
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Let It Ride
You can't set around waitin' for the path to Glory
You gotta get moving to tell your story
The bigger they come the harder they fall
From the littlest acorns to trees so tall
And where you coming from and where you going
Till you get there you got no way of knowing
All the love in the world won't find you if you don't let it
Let it ride, let it ride, let it ride
And every mistake is a break but only a few get it
Let it ride, let it ride, let it ride
Every day's a brand new place
Feel the sun upon your face
Try something new, you won't regret it
The hole in your shoe, buddy
Just forget it
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Sincerely, I Remain
People they come and people go
Headed to who knows where
All up and down that long highway
Until they disappear
The grass is greener on the other side
Or so they all believe
But I'm looking out a different window
I'm planted like a tree
I love this old town, I love the old sounds
Church bells ringing and a midnight train
And I'll stay as unchanged
As tin roofs and rain
Sincerely I remain
And when I leave I always come back
To the arms that hold me tight
With the ones that I love gathered around me
My shelter from the storms of life
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G.I. Joe And Lillie
He was a streetwise kid from Philly
Just 19 in '44
Joined up in Uncle's army
Hit the beach and fought a war
A decorated hero
He never talks about those days
Because of guys like G.I. Joe our country's free today
She was Woman's Army corp
Raised in Carolina dirt
Escorting wounded young men home
From a burning hell on Earth
The first time that she saw him
He was broken and alone
Lillie fell in love that day
When he winked and said Hello
And Lillie sang this song to G.I. Joe
Let me hold you in my arms handsome soldier
Take my hand for we are going home today
Let me kiss away your tears
Let me pray away your fears
I'll stay here with you
Till they carry us away
They married in the spring
All dressed up in army green
Took out a loan, bought a home
Raised a family
The war returned to G.I. Joe in 1965
The old wounds came back to haunt him
But Lillie's love kept him alive
Now they're living in a veteran's home
They've both grown old and gray
The medals earned so long ago
Now hang there in a case
Sometimes she finds him weeping
As he lay there in his bed
The distant sounds of battle
Still echo in his head
And Lillie sings this song to G.I. Joe
Some day they'll rest in Arlington
'Neath the red, the white and blue
Safe in the arms of Jesus
When their journey here is through
An American love story
Not unlike a lot of others
Except that G.I. Joe and Lillie
Is my father and my mother
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Glory Bound
Down by the river I'm left here to shiver
The one I was livin' with can't be found
Although I'm shakin'
My heart won't be breakin'
But there's no mistakin' I'm Glory bound
Let me her it now
Out on this highway
I'm gonna fly away
Off in the mountains I'll settle down
End of the rainbow
Might not contain gold
But thank God I do know
I'm Glory bound
Let me hear it now
Tho' I'm forsaken
My heart won't be breakin'
No one can take me that far down
I thought I knew her
I saw right through her
Hallelujah I'm Glory bound
All right one more time
Embrace me now as you will then
Erasin' all my doubt within
Take me away
There were no good-byes
I saw the dust fly
Think I'll just try another town
Outside my window my weepin' willow cries
She don't know that I'm Glory bound
Take it home
Glory
Glory bound
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Thank God For Kids
(originally appeared on Christmas,
this is a newly recorded version)
If it weren't for kids have you ever thought
There wouldn't be no Santa Claus
Or look what the stork just brought
Thank God for kids
And we'd all live in a quiet house
Without Big Bird or a Mickey Mouse
And Kool-Aid on the couch
Thank God for kids
Thank God for kids there's magic for a while
A special kind of sunshine in a smile
Did you ever stop to think or wonder why
The nearest thing to heaven is a child
Daddy how does this thing fly
And a hundred other where's and whys
I really don't know but I try
Thank God for kids
When I look down in those trusting eyes
That look to me then I realize
There's love that I can't buy
Thank God for kids
When you get down on your knees tonight
And thank the Lord for His guiding light
Pray they'll turn out right
Thank God for kids
Ooooooh Oooooh Thank God for grandkids too
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The Star Spangled Banner
(this is a newly recorded version)
Oh say can you see
By the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed
At the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
Through the perilous fight
O'er the ramparts we watched
Were so gallantly streaming
And the rocket's red glare
The bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there
Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free
And the home of the brave
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