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furrbearLear discusses why he was led to the project at his web site.BILL MOYERS: Now, Norman Lear is campaigning for a new birth of patriotism on the part of every one of us, as an act of personal commitment, not just sentiment.
He'll be taking that message to Barack Obama's inauguration to the sound of music. Norman commissioned Keith Carradine to write a song, "Born Again American", that will be performed at a gala Sunday night at, where else, Washington's Renaissance Hotel, performed by singers and musicians from around the country. On the newly launched "Born Again American" website you can hear the entire song.
[video clip]
BILL MOYERS: There you have it-the promise of America is not alone a government project; it's in our hands, and requires each of us to take our own oath of commitment.
On our Web site at pbs.org, you can link to the Born Again American site, where you'll find their version of that oath. We also link to other organizations observing Martin Luther King Day on Monday as a national day of community service. As Simon Schama writes in the American future, this republic is shouting to be remade. That's a job for everyone.
I'm Bill Moyers. See you next week.
PS:I think the song's web site also has better audio and video than YouTube's copy - JPC/FB
By Keith Carradine
Just a workin’ man without a job
It got shipped off to China via Washington, D.C.
And I know I’m nothin’ special, there are plenty more like me
Just the same
I thought I knew the rules of the game
I stood up for this country that I love
I came back from the desert to a wife and kids to feed
I’m not sayin’ Uncle Sam should give me what I need
My offer stands
I’ll pull my weight you give me half a chance
I went up to a congressman and said to him “you know
Our government is letting people down”
He said he’d need a lot of help to buck the status-quo
I said there was a bunch of us around
I’m a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty
My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed’s equality
I’m a Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea
My brother’s welding chassis at the plant
He’s earning what our granddad did in 1948
While CEOs count bonuses behind the castle gates
How can they see
When all they care about’s the do re mi
It’s getting where there’s nowhere left to turn
Not since the crash of twenty-nine have things been so unfair
So many of our citizens are living in despair
The time has come
To reaffirm that hope’s not just for some
The promise of America’s surrendering to greed
The rule is just look out for number one
But brace yourself ‘cause some of us have sown a different seed
A harvest of the spirit has begun
I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and The Bill Of Rights
My creed’s equality
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea
It’s clear my country’s soul is on the line
She’s hungering for something that she lost along the way
The principle the framers called upon us to obey
That in this land
The people’s will must have the upper hand
I felt the calling once before and took a sacred vow
And faithful to that vow I have remained
I hear the calling once again, my country needs me now
And to her cause I have been re-ordained
I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and the Bill Of Rights, all people living free
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
A M E R I C A
