Happy 232nd, America!

We’ll be on the road today to the nearest national park to spend the holiday weekend with family, but The Man Cub and I wanted to mark the occasion with some unabashed flag-waving (see above) as well as some Rush lyrics appropriate to the occasion before we left. (Not to worry, there are Rush lyrics appropriate to any occasion, as The Missus can attest to.)

This is a song from their “Fly By Night” album, which was released during America’s bicentennial year, 1976. Like ALL Rush lyrics (post-debut album), they remain as relevant today as the day Neil Peart penned them.

Let hope prevail!

Beneath, Between and Behind

Ten score years ago, defeat the kingly foe
A wondrous dream came into being
Tame the trackless waste,
no virgin land left chaste
All shining eyes, but never seeing

Watch the cities rise Another ship arrives
Earth’s melting pot and ever growing
Fantastic dreams come true
Inventing something new
The greatest minds, and never knowing

Beneath the noble bird
Between the proudest words
Behind the beauty, cracks appear
Once with heads held high
They sang out to the sky
Why do their shadows bow in fear?

The guns replace the plow,
facades are tarnished now
The principles have been betrayed
The dream’s gone stale, but still, let hope prevail
History’s debt won’t be repaid