When you were born, Miss America
God saved the queen, but he left you a dream
With your brave stuffed in bellies of ships that drifted in
The gate to the west was wide open
This promised land seemed an infinite land
And we nestled ourselves in your arms and the warmth of your skin
And that great western plain was never the same again
It took years to adjust to our freedom
The young and the proud, how we wondered aloud
About brotherly love and then push comes to shove once again
No death in vain
But we were never the same again
The sweat and the tears of the formative years
The highways were veins pumping life to remains of the land
A new era began
They caught you in bed with Miss Fortune
Poverty bound you were stripped of your crown
All the storms had been weathered
It brought us together again
And then September came
And we were never the same again
Centuries passed and you're still just a girl
But this last generation's not long for this world
Who would rather remember the 12th of September
We're all patriots when the orange of the embers still glow
I think that you know
That I'm telling you this 'cause I love you
I love that you're proud
But you're also too loud
So bring it down to a whisper
And wait for the world to lean in
And the home of the brave
Is etched on the graves again
Remember their names
We were never the same