America's Lady Stands
	(written by Mike Bryant)


[Intro]
[clean electric guitar with chorus and delay, pedal steel swells]

[Verse 1]
[acoustic guitar enters, male vocals]
She rises up out of the harbor fog
With rust on her sleeve, green on her skin
Towboats circle, kids leaning off logs
And gulls keep yelling over the wind
She's held that flame through hard years gone
Like she's still trying to bring us home

[Instrumental Break]
[pedal steel melody, Hammond B3 organ pads]

[Verse 2]
I stood on the deck and watched her there
A lamp against the Jersey haze
And thought about the news we share
The half-truths and the sideways praise
Her arm stayed up, no sign of doubt
While the water kept rolling out

[Chorus]
[full band enters, driving rhythm]
America's lady, America's lady
Holding that torch for us
Out in New York Bay
America's lady, America's lady
If she could speak the words she'd say
I think she'd tell us to stay away

[Guitar Solo]
[overdriven electric guitar solo, melodic phrasing, pedal steel counterpoint]

[Verse 3]
[drums and bass continue, organ swells]
She keeps her place in the salt and spray
Above the wakes and the dark yard clang
A hundred winters worn away
And still that flame, still that same old angle
Not a saint, not a stair
Just a statue refusing to leave us there

[Chorus]
America's lady, America's lady
Holding that torch for us
Out in New York Bay
America's lady, America's lady
If she could speak the words she'd say
I think she'd tell us to stay away

[Bridge]
[crescendo, heavy crash cymbals]
If she had words she'd say
Don't let this slip away
America, don't let freedom slip away
America's lady, don't let freedom slip away

[Outro]
[rhythm section fades, acoustic guitar and pedal steel remain]
[final pedal steel swell]