One night as the wind whispered eerie tales And the stars danced to and fro I dreamt of the land where my forefathers trod In those times of long ago In Boston Harbour I saw brave men And I watched with youthful pride When they scattered the tea in a tax-laden sea To a dark and an angry tide
I wondered then as I watched these men Who flouted King George's might Would redcoat hordes with their glittering swords Wreck vengeance in the night Then a voice rang out in the starry air Stand fast young man be brave Far better to die 'neath an open sky Than live like a cowering slave
That early dawn of that April morn I stood on a mountain tall And felt the shock of the musket shot That started first freedoms call My spirits soared as its thunder roared I prayed to the blazing sky To bless the hand of the gallant band Who carried our banner high
In that shifting scene of my wandering dream I rode fast to Bennington town General Stark and his Green Mountain Boys Were camped on the dewy ground I gazed for a while and I saw his sad smile Then he softly said to me Their young blood will stain this Vermont plain Before our land is free
I remember that smile as I rode each mile In my heart a dreadful chill The blood and the sweat and the smell of death Rising high over Bunker Hill The men and the boys with their sightless eyes Who lay dead before their time When they broke the chain of King George's reign In a place they call Brandywine
Then clear upon a cold night air I heard a suffering cry A ragged band of hungry men Were slowly shuffling by Across the valley grim and bare I heard the bugle blow The bloody beat of their torn feet Staining the virgin snow
In the shivering scene of my nightmare dream A tall man spoke to me He looked grey and old in the crippling cold But his eyes were bright and clear He said "Listen well, then you must tell Of these deeds these men have done And future days will sing their praise From dawn 'til the setting sun"
Tell them of Saratoga Where the patriots fought and died Of Valley Forge of Paul Revere Who made that midnight ride Of Cowpens and Kings Mountain Don't let them soon forget Or Patrick Henry's immortal words ''Give me liberty or death''
Remember Swamp Fox Marion Who led that wily band Of Allen, Greene and Sumter Who made a noble stand Remember too the mothers true Who cried their tears alone Their names will be told with the brave and the bold Where e'er our flag is flown
He left me then but I saw him again Standing tall near Yorktown Bay I saw Cornwallis surrender his sword On that bleak October day Then the tall man turned and he said to me Young man our fight has just begun Like a flashing scene I awoke from my dream And I cried in my silent room
On my way to school I felt like a fool As my childish tears did flow The things I had seen were all in a dream You see they'd happened long ago Then I cast my eye to a building high Where the flag was floating free And I smiled to the sun for the men who had won A nation for you and me