The Avett Brothers - We Americans lyrics

I grew up with reverence for the red, white
And blue spoke of God and liberty
 reciting the pledge of allegiance
Learned love of country from my own family
Some shivered and prayed approaching
The beaches of Normandy
The flag waves high and that's
How it should be
So many lives given and taken
In the name of freedom
But the story's complicated and hard to read
Pages of the book obscured
Or torn out completely

I am a son of uncle Sam
And I struggle to understand
The good and evil
But, I'm doing the best I can
In a place built on stolen
Land with stolen people

Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco
Blood in the soil with the cotton and tobacco

A misnamed people and a kidnapped race
Laws may change
But we can't erase the scars of a nation
Of children devalued and disavowed
Displaced by greed and the
Arrogance of manifest destiny
Short-sighted to say it was a long time ago
Not even two life times have passed
Since the days of Lincoln
The sins of Andrew Jackson
The shame of Jim crow
And time moves slow when the
Tragedies are beyond description

I am a son of uncle Sam
And I struggle to understand
The good and evil
But, I'm doing the best I can
In a place built on stolen
Land with stolen people
We are more than the sum of our parts
All these broken homes and broken hearts
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
Will you forgive us for where we've been?
We Americans

Blood on the table with the
Coffee and the sugar
Blood on the table with the
Coffee and the sugar
Blood on the table with the
Coffee and the sugar

I've been to every state and
Seen shore to shore
The still open wounds of the Civil War
Watched blind hatred bounce back and forth
Seen vile prejudice both in the
South and the north
And accountability is hard to impose
On ghosts of ancestors haunting the
Halls of our conscience
But the path of grace and
Goodwill is still here
For those of us who may
Be considered among the living

I am a son of God and man
And I may never understand the good and evil
But, I dearly love this land
Because of and in spite of We The People
We are more than the sum of our parts
All these broken bones and broken hearts
God, will you keep us wherever we go?
Can you forgive us for where we've been?
We Americans we Americans

Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory love
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory love
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory
Love in our hearts with the
Pain and the memory