Rockin' and rollin', splishin' and a-splashin',
Over the horizon, what can it be?

The pilgrims sailed the sea
To find a place to call their own.
In their ship, Mayflower,
They hoped to find a better home.
They finally knocked
On Plymouth Rock
And someone said, "We're there."
It may not look like home
But at this point I don't care.

Oh, they were missimg Mother England,
They swore their loyalty until the very end.
Anything you say, King,
It's OK, King,
You know it's kinda scary on your own.
Gonna build a new land
The way we planned.
Could you help us run it till it's grown?

They planted corn, you know
They built their houses one by one,
And bit by bit they worked
Until the colonies were done.
They looked around,
Yeah, up and down,
And someone said, "Hurray!"
If the king could only see us now
He would be proud of us today.

They knew that now they'd run their own land,
But George the Third still vowed
He'd rule them to the end.
Anything I say, do it my way now.

Anything I say, do it my way.
Don't you get to feeling independent
'Cause I'm gonna force you to obey.

He taxed their property,
He didn't give them any choice,
And back in England
He didn't give them any voice.
(That's called taxation without representation,
And it's not fair!)
But when the Colonies complained
The king said: "I don't care!"

He even has the nerve
To tax our cup of tea.
To put it kindly, King,
We really don't agree.

Gonna show you how we feel.
We're gonna dump this tea
And turn this harbor into
The biggest cup of tea in history!

They wanted no more Mother England.
They knew the time had come
For them to take command.
It's very clear you're being unfair, King,
No matter what you say, we won't obey.
Gonna hold a revolution now, King,
And we're gonna run it all our way
With no more kings...

We're gonna elect a president! (No more kings)
He's gonna do what the people want! (No more kings)
We're gonna run things our way! (No more kings)
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do!

Rockin' and rollin', splishin' and a-splashing,
Over the horizon, what can it be?
Looks like it's going to be a free country. (Applause)

No More Kings

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Sung by: Lynn Ahrens

Ooh, there's gonna be fireworks (fireworks!)
On the Fourth of July (red, white and blue!)
Red, white, and blue fireworks
Like diamonds in the sky (diamonds
in the sky!)
We're gonna shoot the entire works
on fireworks
That really show, oh yeah,
We declared our liberty two hundred
years ago.

Yeah!

In 1776 (fireworks!)
There were fireworks too (red, white, and blue!)
The original colonists,
You know their tempers blew (They really blew!)
Like Thomas Paine once wrote:
It's only common sense (only common sense)
That if a government won't give you your basic rights
You better get another government.

And though some people tried to fight it,
Well, a committee was formed to write it:
Benjamin Franklin, Plilip Livingston,
John Adams, Roger Sherman, Thomas Jefferson,
They got it done, (Oh yes they did!)
The Declaration, uh-huh-huh,
The Declaration of Independence (Oh yeah!)
In 1776 (Right on!)
The Continental Congress said that we were free (We're free!)
Said we had the right of life and liberty,
...And the pursuit of happiness!

Ooh, when England heard the news (Kerpow!),
They blew their stack (They really blew their cool!),
But the colonies lit the fuse,
There'd be no turning back (no turning back!).
They'd had enough of injustice now
But even if it really hurts, oh yeah,
If you don't give us our freedom now
You're gonna see some fireworks!

And on the Fourth of July they signed it
And fifty-six names underlined it,
And now to honor those first thirteen states,
We turn the sky into a birthday cake.
They got it done (Oh yes they did!)
The Declaration, uh-huh-huh,
The Declaration of Independence (Oh yeah!)
In 1776 (Right on!)
The Continental Congress said that we were free (We're free!)
Said we had the right of life and liberty,
...And the pursuit of happiness!

We hold these truths to be self evident,
That all men are created equal
And that they are endowed by their creator
With certain unalienable rights.
That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness,

And if there's one thing that makes me happy,
Then you know that it's (ooh!)
There's gonna be fireworks!

Fireworks

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Sung by: Grady Tate

"The British are coming! The British are coming!"

Now, the ride of Paul Revere
Set the nation on its ear,
And the shot at Lexington heard
'round the world,
When the British fired in the early dawn
The War of Independence had begun,
The die was cast, the rebel flag unfurled.

And on to Concord marched the foe
To seize the arsenal there you know,
Waking folks and searching all around
Till our militia stopped them in their tracks,
At the old North Bridge we turned them back
And chased those redcoats back to Boston town.

And the shot heard 'round the world
Was the start of the Revolution.
The Minute Men were ready, on the move.
Take your powder, and take your gun.
Report to General Washington.
Hurry men, there's not an hour to lose!

Now, at famous Bunker Hill,
Even thought we lost, it was quite a thrill,
The rebel Colonel Prescott proved he was wise;
Outnumbered and low on ammunition
As the British stormed his position
He said, "Hold your fire till you see the whites of their eyes!"

Though the next few years were rough,
General Washington's men proved they were tough,
Those hungry, ragged boys would not be beat.
One night they crossed the Delaware,
Surprised the Hessians in their lair,
And at Valley Forge they just bundled up their feet!

Now the shot heard 'round the world
Was the start of the Revolution.
The Minute Men were ready, on the move.
Take your blanket, and take your son.
Report to General Washington.
We've got our rights and now it's time to prove.

Well, they showed such determination
That they won the admiration
Of countries across the sea like France and Spain,
Who loaned the colonies ships and guns
And put the British on the run
And the Continental Army on its feet again.

And though they lost some battles too,
The Americans swore they'd see it through,
Their raiding parties kept up, hit and run.
At Yorktown the British could not retreat,
Bottled up by Washington and the French Fleet,
Cornwallis surrendered and finally we had won!

From the shot heard 'round the world
To the end of the Revolution
The continental rabble took the day
And the father of our country
Beat the British there at Yorktown
And brought freedom to you and me and the U.S.A.!

God Bless America, Let Freedom Ring!

The Shot Heard 'Round The World

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough Sung by: Bob Dorough

Hey, do you know about the U.S.A.?
Do you know about the government?
Can you tell me about the Constitution?
Hey, learn about the U.S.A.

In 1787 I'm told
Our founding fathers did agree
To write a list of principles
For keepin' people free.

The U.S.A. was just startin' out.
A whole brand-new country.
And so our people spelled it out
The things that we should be.

And they put those principles down on
paper and called it the Constitution, and
it's been helping us run our country ever
since then. The first part of the
]Constitution is called the preamble and tells
what those founding fathers set out to do.

We the people
In order to form a more perfect union,
Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
Provide for the common defense,
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty
To ourselves and our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.

In 1787 I'm told
Our founding fathers all sat down
And wrote a list of principles
That's known the world around.

The U.S.A. was just starting out
A whole brand-new country.
And so our people spelled it out
They wanted a land of liberty.
And the preamble goes like this:

We the people
In order to form a more perfect union,
Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
Provide for the common defense,
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty
To ourselves and our posterity,
Do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.

For the United States of America...

The Preamble

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Sung by: Lynn Ahrens

Boy: Whew! You sure gotta climb
a lot of steps to get to this
Capitol Building here in
Washington. But I wonder who
that sad little scrap of paper is?

I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law some day
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage.
Bill: Well, I got this far. When I started I wasn't even a bill, I was just an idea.
Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called
their local Congressman, and said, "You're right, there oughta be a law."
Then he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me to Congress. And I
became a bill, and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law.

I'm just a bill
Yes I'm only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill.
Well, now I'm stuck in committee
And I'll sit here and wait
While a few key Congressmen discuss
and debate
Whether they should let me be a law.
How I hope and pray that they will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: Listen to those Congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?
Bill: Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get this far. I hope they
decide
to report on me favorably, otherwise I may die.
Boy: Die?
Bill: Yeah, die in committee. Ooh, but it looks like I'm gonna live!
Now I go to the House of Representatives, and they vote on me.
Boy: If they vote yes, what happens?
Bill: Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.
Boy: Oh no!
Bill: Oh yes!

I'm just a bill
Yes, I'm only a bill
And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill
Well, then I'm off to the White House
Where I'll wait in a line
With a lot of other bills
For the president to sign
And if he signs me, then I'll be a law.
How I hope and pray that he will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Boy: You mean even if the Whole Congress says you
should be a law, the president can still say no?
Bill: Yes, that's called a veto. If the president vetoes
me, I have to go back to Congress and they vote
on me again, and by that time you're so old...
Boy: By that time it's very unlikely that you'll become
a law. It's not easy to become a law, is it?
Bill: No!

But how I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Congressman: He signed you, Bill!
Now you're a law!
Bill: Oh yes!!!

I'm Just A Bill

Music & Lyrics: Dave Frishberg Sung by: Jack Sheldon

Kid: Hey! Who left all this garbage on the steps of Congress?

Amendment: I'm not garbage.

(Amendment Singing)
I'm an amendment to be, yes an amendment to be,
and I'm hopin' that they'll ratify me.
There's a lot of flag burners who have got too much freedom.
I wanna make it legal for policemen to beat 'em,
cause there's limits to our liberties.
'Least I hope and pray that there are,
cause those liberal freaks go too far.

Kid: Well why can't we just make a law against flag burning?
Amendment: Because that law would be unconstitutional.  But if we changed the Constitution...
Kid: Then we could make all sorts of crazy laws!
Amendment: Now you're catching on!
Kid: What if people say you're not good enough to be in the Constitution?

(Amendment Singing)
Then I'll crush all opposition to me,
and I'll make Ted Kennedy pay.
If he fights back, I'll say that he's gray.
Congressman: Good news, Amendment! They ratified ya! You're in the U.S. Constitution.
Amendment: Oh yeah! Door's open, boys.

An Amendment to Be

From The Simpsons

Gonna have a three-ring circus someday,
People will say it's a fine one, son.
Gonna have a three-ring circus someday,
People will come from miles around.
Lions, tigers, acrobats, and jugglers and clowns galore,
Tightrope walkers, pony riders, elephants, and so much more...

Guess I got the idea right here at school.
Felt like a fool when they called my name,
Talkin[ about the government and how it's arranged,
Divided in three like a circus.
Ring one, Executive,
Two is Legislative, that's Congress.
Ring three, Judiciary.
See it's kind of like my circus, circus.

Step right up and visit ring number one.
The show's just begun. Meet the President.
I am here to see that the laws get done.
The ringmaster of the government.

On with the show!

Hurry, hurry, hurry to ring number two.
See what they do in the Congress.
Passin' laws and juggling bills,
Oh, it's quite a thrill in the Congress.
Focus your attention on ring number three.
The Judiciary's in the spotlight.
The courts take the law and they tame the crimes
Balancing the wrongs with your rights.

No one part can be
more powerful than any other is.
Each controls the other you see,
and that's what we call checks and balances.

Well, everybody's act is part of the show.
And no one's job is more important.
The audience is kinda like the country you know,
Keeping and eye on their performance.

Ring one, Executive,
Two is Legislative, that's Congress.
Ring three, Judiciary.
See it's kind of like my circus, circus.

Gonna have a three-ring circus someday.
People will say it's a fine one son,
But until I get it, I'll do my thing
With government. It's got three rings.

Three-Ring Government

One thing you will discover
When you get next to one another
Is everybody needs some elbow room, elbow room.

It's nice when you're kinda cozy, but
Not when you're tangled nose
to nosey, oh,
Everybody needs some elbow, needs
a little elbow room.

That's how it was in the early days
of the U.S.A.,
The people kept coming to settle though
The east was the only place there
was to go.

The President was Thomas Jefferson
He made a deal with Napoleon.
How'd you like to sell a mile or two, (or three, or a hundred or a thousand?)
And so, in 1803 the Louisiana Territory was sold to us
Without a fuss
And gave us lots of elbow room,

Oh, elbow room, elbow room,
Got to, got to get us some elbow room.
It's the West or bust,
In God we trust.
There's a new land out there...
Lewis and Clark volunteered to go,
Good-bye, good luck, wear your overcoat!
They prepared for good times and for bad (and for bad),
They hired Sacajawea to be their guide.
She led them all across the countryside.
Reached the coast
And found the most
Elbow room we've ever had.

The way was opened up for folks with bravery.
There were plenty of fights
To win land rights,
But the West was meant to be;
It was our Manifest Destiny!

The trappers, traders, and the peddlers,
The politicians and the settlers,
They got there by any way they could (any way they could).
The Gold Rush trampled down the wilderness,
The railroads spread across from East to West,
And soon the rest was opened up for - opened up for good.

And now we jet from East to West.
Good-bye New York, hello L.A.,
But it took those early folks to open up the way.

Now we've got a lot of room to be
Growing from sea to shining sea.
Guess that we have got our elbow room (elbow room)
But if there should ever come a time
When we're crowded up together, I'm
Sure we'll find some elbow room...up on the moon!

Oh, elbow room, elbow room.
Got to, got to get us some elbow room.
It's the moon or bust,
In God we trust.
There's a new land up there!

Elbow Room

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Sung by: Sue Manchester

Mother Necessity
With her good intentions,
Where would this country be
Without her inventions?

Oh, things were rotten in the land of cotton
Until Whitney made the cotton gin.
Now old times there will soon be forgotten
For it did the work of a hundred men.

Mother Necessity, where would we be?

Mother Edison worked late each night.
It went well until the fading light.
Little Tomas Alva Edison said, "I'll grow up to be
A tgreat intentor and I'll make a lamp to help my mommy see,
Wowee! What an excellent application of electricity!"
He worked hard and pulled the switch.
He was smart and very rich.

Mother Necessity, help us to see.

Now, the mother of Samuel Morse
Always sent the lad out on a horse.
"Take a message to Ms. Peavy on the far side of the pike;
Spread the word about the quilting bee next Saturday night!"
Little Samuel started thinking of a way to send a message,
Though he'd never met a horse he didn't like. Uh!

Mother Necessity!

Elias, can you help me with my sewing?
Mother dear, I'll fulfill your fondest wishes.

Elias, how?
This machine I've made will keep your sewing really flowing.
In fact, we'll keep the whole nation in stitches. Ah!

Mother Necessity, where would we be?

Ring me on the Alexander Graham Bell.
Thank you Alexander for the phone.
I'd never get a date, I'd never get a job
Unless I had a telephone.

Mother Necessity!

"Orville, Wilbur, go outside this minute,
And there continue with your silly playing!
Take these plans and take those blueprints.
Take that wheel, take that wing,
I can't hear a thing that Mrs. Johnson's saying.
Orville! Wilbur! Come back, boys! Orville! Wilbur!"

Mother Necessity, where would we be?

When Robert Fulton made the steamboat go,
When Marconi gave us wireless radio,
When Henry Ford cranked up his first automo,
When Samuel Slater showed us how the factories go,
And all the iron and coal and steel and Yankee don't
you know,
They made this country really grow, grow, grow, grow,
With Mother Necessity and where would we be
Without the inventions of your progeny?

Mother Necessity

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough Sung by: Bob Dorough and friends

My grandmother came from Russia
A satchel on her knee,
My grandfather had his father's cap
He brought from Italy.
They'd heard about a country
Where life might let them win,
They paid the fare to America
And there they melted in.

Lovely Lady Liberty
With her book of recipes
And the finest one she's got
Is the great American melting pot
The great American melting pot.

America was founded by the English,
But also by the Germans, Dutch, and French.
The principle still sticks;
Our heritage is mixed.
So any kid could be the president.

You simply melt right in,
It doesn't matter what your skin,
It doesn't matter where you're from,
Or your religion, you jump right in
To the great American melting pot
The great American melting pot.
Ooh, what a stew, red, white, and blue.

America was the New World
And Europe was the Old.
America was the land of hope,
Or so the legend told.
On steamboats by the millions,
In search of honest pay,
Those nineteenth century immigrants sailed
To reach the U.S.A.

Lovely Lady Liberty
With her book of recipes
And the finest one she's got
Is the great American melting pot
The great American melting pot.
What good ingredients,
Liberty and immigrants.

They brought the country's customs,
Their language and their ways.
They filled the factories, tilled the soil,
Helped build the U.S.A.
Go on and ask your grandma,
Hear what she has to tell
How great to be American
And something else as well.

Lovely Lady Liberty
With her book of recipes
And the finest one she's got
Is the great American melting pot
The great American melting pot.

The great American melting pot.
The great American melting pot.

The Great American Melting Pot

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens Sung by: Lori Leiberman

Now you have heard of Women's Rights,
And how we've tried to reach new heights.
If we're "all created equal"...
That's us too!

(Yeah!)

But you will proba...bly not recall
That it's not been too...too long at all.
Since we even had the right to
Cast a vote.

(Well!)

Well, sure, some men bowed down
and called us "Mrs." (Yeah!)
Let us hand the was out and wash the dishes, (Huh!)
But when the time rolled around to elect a president...

What did they say, Sister, (What did they say?)

They said, uh, "See ya later, alligator,
And don't forget my...my mashed potatoes
'Cause I'm going downtown to cast
my vote for president."

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote,
no matter what age,
Then the nineteenth amendment struck
down the restrictive rule. (Oh yeah!)

And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state, county,
town, and school.

(Tell 'em 'bout it!)

Those pilgrim women who...
who braved the boat
Could cook the turkey, but they...
they could not vote.
Even Betsy Ross who sewed the flag was left behind that first election day.

(What a shame, Sisters!)

Then Susan B. Anthony (Yeah!) and Julia Howe,
(Lucretia!) Lucretia Mott, (and others!) they showed us how;
They carried signs and marched in lines
Until at long last the law was passed.

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote, no matter what age,
Then the nineteenth amendment struck down that restrictive rule (Oh yeah!)

And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state, county, town, and school. (Right on! Right on!)

Yes, the nineteenth amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule. (Right on! Right on!)

Yes, the nineteenth amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule
Yeah
Yeah Yeah
Right on!
We got it now!

Since 1920
Sisters, unite!
Vote on!

Sufferin' Till Suffrage

Music: Bob Dorough Lyrics: Tom Yohe Sung by: Essra Mohawk