Decoration Day

From the hunger and the war
Came the weary and the poor
On the ships and over land the rabble came
The common and the destitute were banging on the door
On the list every alien name
Every one of us should pay back what we owe
To the masses before us they would go

They raised their right hand
They raised their right hand
They raised their right hands to pray
The words of a welcoming nation
Forever they waited to say

On Decoration Day
With photographs and letters from their families
They would come even if they had to crawl
They were knocking down the door of opportunity
The promise of America's call
Their ragged souls only begging her to be free
In the home of the brave with you and me

They raised their right hand
They raised their right hand
They raised their right hands to pray
The words of a welcoming nation
Forever they waited to say
On Decoration Day

With their broken family trees all in a tangle
Frozen out from the riches back at home
Not a thought of ever living as a legal
All the widows and the orphans came alone
With a vow they could never come to deny
To swear on the 4th of July

They raised their right hand
They raised their right hand
They raised their right hands to pray
The words of a welcoming nation
Forever they waited to say
On Decoration Day