"The House I Live In" (Paul Robeson)

The original lyrics to this powerful song...Bass Paul Robeson at his best.

THE HOUSE I LIVE IN (1947)

What is America to me?
A name, a map or a flag I see,
A certain word, "Democracy",
What is America to me?

The house I live in,
The friends that I have found,
The folks beyond the railroad
and the people all around,
The worker and the farmer,
the sailor on the sea,
The men who built this country,
that's America to me.

The words of old Abe Lincoln,
of Jefferson and Paine,
of Washington and Jackson
and the tasks that still remain.
The little bridge at Concord,
where Freedom's Fight began,
of Gettysburg and Midway
and the story of Bataan.

The house I live in,
my neighbors White and Black,
the people who just came here
or from generations back,
the town hall and the soapbox,
the torch of Liberty,
a home for all God's children,
that's America to me.

The house I live in,
the goodness everywhere,
a land of wealth and beauty
with enough for all to share.
A house that we call "Freedom",
the home of Liberty,
but especially the people,
that's America to me.

But especially the people--that's
the true America...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Paul
• Robeson
• The House Live In
• What is America to Me?
• Lewis
• Allan
• Abel
• Meeropol
• Earl
• Robinson

[mslevine3]

Lewis Allan (aka Abel Meeropol) also wrote "Strang Fruit" hauntingly sung by Billie Holliday. He and his wife adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

[RReady555]

Yes, a man of valor and integrity in a time of scoundrels...

[BrickLaneBetty]

Thank you!!

[RReady555]

My pleasure and honor!

[avlgal]

Today, Nov. 5, 2008, this song has extra special meaning. Thank you for sharing it.

[RReady555]

You are entirely welcome...the song was a good sixty years ahead of its time. May America take its harmonious place again among the world's nations.

Warmest regards,

-RR

[antjuanoden]

BEAUTIFUL.

[stefmagura]

A good song to comemorate the Dr. King Holiday. :)

[daveysan]

I used to live there. Not quite sure where I live now.

[normanefox]

A lot of people make mistakes. Paul's was to idealize the Soviet Union. But he is still great because he was concerned for the little guy and walked the walk. Anyone who has studied American History knows that injustice and lack of freedom did not end slavery and exploitation for African Americans and they are still dealing with the lasting impact of how they were treated. So it is no wonder that Paul would look for another way for the salvation of the underdog and the rich man alike.

[normanefox]

A lot of people make mistakes. Paul's was to idealize the Soviet Union. But he is still great because he was concerned for the little guy and walked the walk. Anyone who has studied American History knows that injustice and lack of freedom did not end slavery and exploitation for African Americans and they are still dealing with the lasting impact of how they were treated. So it is no wonder that Paul would look for another way for the salvation of the underdog and rich man alike.

[jeffs666]

Great voice. great America. Thanks fo sharing.

[thepkboricua]

I go to the school that paul went to (The somerville middle school) but back then it was the Somerville High school

[GRANDMASTERKANE]

what a voice, one of the best of the 20th century, right up there with bill kenny of the ink spots and marvin gaye and all this commie jibba jabba, the problem is, the commies try to control everything when they are only supposed to control the resources, but i think the world needs a new kind of communism, an american kind, where people have more freedom but theres a much smaller gap between rich n poor... bring in the maximum wage.

[TheWWWJTFORG]

@BrickLaneBetty

China is hardly Communist any more, but it is a military dictatorship.

[alg11297]

@BrickLaneBetty It's comforting to know that Paul Robeson High School in Harlem is one of the worst performing schools in the United States and that it's principal was finally fired for drinking on the job. I said the man was a communist and did nothing for his own people. But he did make a nice living singing songs written by Jews as well as the Internationale. You'd think he'd be bright enough to realize that Stalin killed more people than Hitler...but then again, that wasn't his concern.

[BrickLaneBetty]

punk ass argument! You are so uneducated. in between being the top student at Rutgers, the greatest football player of his era, a Columbia law school degree and non stop civil rights and trade union activism? literally hundreds of others of achievements? You can't even touch anything he accomplished!

Why denounce ANYONE? why ?because J Edgar Hoover KKK scumbag and Firestone Hitler tires and the other rapists of Africa wanted him too? you don't understand the climate of the times for blacks.