I Hear America Singing

Walt Whitman [ from Leaves of Grass, 1900 ]

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deck hand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The woodcutters song, the ploughboys on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to no one else,
The day what belongs to the day at night the party of fellows, robust, friendly,

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Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

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Mercy
Dave Matthews [ edited from Away from the World, 2012 ]
Dont give up, I know you can see
All the world and the mess that were making.
Cant give up and hope God will intercede.
Come on back; imagine that we could get it together.
Stand up for what we need to be
Cause crime wont save or feed a hungry child.
Cant give up and hope a miracle will change things,
So lift up your eyes, lift up your heart.
Singing, mercy will we overcome this?
Oh, one by one, could we turn it around?
Maybe carry on just a little bit longer,
And Ill try to give you what you need.
Me and you, and you, and you: Oh, we wanna live free.
But you see, all the world is just as we make it,
And until we got a new world Ive got to say
That love is not a whisper or a weakness.
No, love is strong, so we got to get together.
Yeah, we gotta get, we gotta get, we gotta get
Til there is no reason to fight.
Mercy, will we overcome this?
Oh, one by one, could we turn it around?
Maybe carry on just a little bit longer,
And Ill try to give you what you need.
Mercy, will we overcome this?
Oh, have we come too far to turn it around?
Do we ask too much to be a little bit stronger?
But I wanna give you what you need.
Mercy, what will become of us?
Oh, one by one, could we turn it around?
Maybe carry on just a little bit longer,
And Ill try to give you what you need.
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