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American Dream

from The Mend by Jason Tyler Burton

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about

A simple, honest song inspired by the writing of John Prine and Bill Mallonee. We need a new American Dream, different than the one we've been sold.

lyrics

We came across the ocean seeking freedom it's true
Then we came across the mountains a little dream to pursue
We were not seeking riches, just a place to call our own
A little slice of paradise, a little garden and a home

Now I work down deep in the belly of the hills
Where the coal dust burns and so i take pills
Then i sit on the couch and stare at the screen
And nobody can measure the distance between
What they say and what they mean
When they tell me that I am the American dream

So I joined up the army, going to fight for the oppressed
Well I can't tell you evils name, but i can tell you how he dressed
In a suit and a tie, waving the banner of a cross
But where Jesus name was missing
and nobody counted it lost

Oh hey, what do we stand to lose?

They took away my job in the factory that they said was never mine
Because some bum in the top one percent needed my dime
Then they took away my house and they blamed it all on me
And told me keep spending so that we could all stay free

So I went back across the mountains to the land of my parents birth
And I learned to build a house man i learned to till the earth
I learned that less is more
and how to do more with less
In my little slice of paradise I am poor but I am blessed

Oh hey what do we stand to lose
If this American dream is not the one we choose.

credits

from The Mend, released February 29, 2012

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Jason Tyler Burton Wyoming

Jason Tyler Burton is a recluse from Kentucky who now makes his home in the least populated county in the least populated state. There in Wyoming, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains, he writes songs that wrestle with the struggles of rural peoples. His stories often tell a novel's worth of story in the format of a song, for which he draws comparisons to Jason Isbell and John Prine. ... more

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