A wise man was telling stories to me
  About the places he had been to
  And the things that he had seen
  
  A quiet voice is singing something to me
  An age old song about the home of the brave
  In this land here of the free
  One time one night in America
  
  A lady dressed in white with the man she loved
  Standing along the side of their pickup truck
  A shot rang out in the night
  Just when everything seemed right
  Another headline written down in America
  
  The guy that lived next door in #305
  Took the kids to the park and disappeared
  About half past nine
  Who will ever know
  How much she loved them so
  That dark night alone in America
  
  A quiet voice is singing something to me
  An age old song about the home of the brave
  In this land here of the free
  One time one night in America
  
  Four small boys playing ball in a parking lot
  A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
  A car skidded into the rain
  Making the last little one a saint
  One more light goes out in America
  
  A young girl tosses a coin in the wishing well
  She hopes for a heaven while for her
  There's just this hell
  She gave away her life
  To become somebody's wife
  Another wish unanswered in America
  
  People having so much faith
  Die too soon while all the rest come late
  We write a song that no one sings
  On a cold black stone
  Where a lasting peace will finally bring
  
  The sunlight plays upon my windowpane
  I wake up to a world that's still the same
  My father said to be strong
  And that a good man could never do wrong
  In a dream I had last night in America
  
  A wise man was telling storie to me
  About the places he had been to
  And the things that he had seen
  
  A quiet voice is singing something to me
  An age old song about the home of the brave
  In this land here of the free
  One time one night in America