America is a sharecropper's son Who plays a guitar And grows up to be a rock and roll star Yes even a sharecopper's son can go far In America America is an immigrant's daughter With something to say Who grows up to be a writer one day An immigrant's daughter can turn out ok In America America You can build a bigger bridge You can make a better car Erect a building tall enough to almost touch a star Anything you can dream you can do It's up to you America is the cop on the beat Who walks all alone And offers his life to safeguard your own Like so many heroes unsung and unknown In America America is the telephone man On top of a pole The miner who digs deep down in a hole And each one in search of his own private goal In America America You can build a stronger dam You can make a faster plane Irrigate a barren desert that is crying out for rain Anything you can dream you can do It's up to you America is The light in the harbor That immigrants see That tells them they've reached the land of the free And that is the way it always will be