America the Beautiful (trad., Katharine Lee Bates & Samuel A. Ward)(with Al Petteway). My husband Michael suggested this song. Patriotic songs were an early part of finding my voice. Thank you to Al Petteway for taking the time to create this exquisite guitar accompaniment.
Lyrics
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!