"In America" lyrics
Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon Lyrics
I first came to this country
In Spring of 1904
A lonely Jew from Warsaw
Never here before
We sailed into the harbor
On the 17th of May
I disembarked with other Poles
Bound for the USA
They looked me up, they looked me down
And much to my surprise
They asked about my family
They checked my mouth, my eyes
They put a chalk mark on my coat
My papers stamped and clear
Was shuffled through an exit
And I suddenly was here
In America
Your torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where I wait to take my place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
I got a job, got married
We had three kids of our own
Thirty-five years came and went
This place is now my home
Poland's just a memory
Half a world away
But still my heart was torn apart
With what I read today
Nazis marching in the street
And fires everywhere
The Polish army vanquished
And terror in the air
Too many to remember
We'll never know their names
People who look just like me
Are loaded on to trains
But here in America
The torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where I'd come to take my place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
It all seems like a nightmare now
Although we know it's true
The horrors people have endured
The evil some can do
To me now in these later days
The lessons are so clear
It cannot be forgotten
And it cannot happen here
In America
Our torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where we've come to take our place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
In Spring of 1904
A lonely Jew from Warsaw
Never here before
We sailed into the harbor
On the 17th of May
I disembarked with other Poles
Bound for the USA
They looked me up, they looked me down
And much to my surprise
They asked about my family
They checked my mouth, my eyes
They put a chalk mark on my coat
My papers stamped and clear
Was shuffled through an exit
And I suddenly was here
In America
Your torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where I wait to take my place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
I got a job, got married
We had three kids of our own
Thirty-five years came and went
This place is now my home
Poland's just a memory
Half a world away
But still my heart was torn apart
With what I read today
Nazis marching in the street
And fires everywhere
The Polish army vanquished
And terror in the air
Too many to remember
We'll never know their names
People who look just like me
Are loaded on to trains
But here in America
The torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where I'd come to take my place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
It all seems like a nightmare now
Although we know it's true
The horrors people have endured
The evil some can do
To me now in these later days
The lessons are so clear
It cannot be forgotten
And it cannot happen here
In America
Our torchlight shines afar
In America
Like a shining, distant star
Here is where we've come to take our place
Here, in this land of hope and grace
In America
