Where I'm Coming From

I come from people who came from nothing
The huddled masses on the shore
They came from wars and they came from suffering
Came sailing through her golden door
I come from people who missed their homelands
And friends forever left behind
I come from people hungry for something
People with freedom on their minds

I come from people who came to work hard
Miners and dockers on the shore
Worked in the steel mills or in the shipyard
Or locked behind the sweatshop doors
I come from people taunted and spit on
Their bodies chewed up in the grind
I come from anarchists, I come from socialists
The suffering of Jesus on their minds

Oh, dream of America
Oh, how the dream wears thin
Once your ship comes in, America

I come from people who felt American
Who fought and died on distant shores
And though they weren't yet, they learned the secret
That being white could open doors
So I come from people who left their language
Who changed their names and got in line
I come from people who don't remember
Becoming American in America's mind

I come from people who sank the lifeboats
Who snuffed her torch when they came ashore
Who turned a country into a fortress
With stony walls that have no door
I come from people who saw their dreams bloom
Just as their fears made them go blind
These people made me, they complicate me
They're weighing heavy on my mind

Oh, dream of America
Oh, how the dream wears thin
Once your ship comes in, America