Tuesday, January 22, 2013

"America the Beautiful" and James Taylor

 
Whodathunkit?
That over 40 years on, that that long lanky guy who sang  his stories, would be singing at the inauguration?
Singing the first  and best known stanza,  like I had never heard it sung before.
I realised that this was more than a patriotic song, it was a love song,
and the troubadour was sing the praises of his Loved one.
Was he reminding us of what a great country we live in?
Was he singing in gratitude?
Was he sharing his vision through the words of another?
Who knows.
 
I wish  he had been able to sing the whole sing.
 
 
 
 

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward
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 of 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!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

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
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
~~~the official Scout version

YUM!, guest blogger on making Naan....something I am new to and still working on

  Naan is tasty!   I wanted to make some, and from there on out, wellllllllllll, it's been a learning experience!   And I don't give...