America The Beautiful
Ray Charles Lyrics

Oh beautiful for heroes proved
This verse talks about how beautiful America is for the heroes who proved themselves in the time of liberating strife.

In liberating strife
The strife of America's freedom from colonizers.

Who more than self, their country loved
The heroes of America loved their country more than they loved themselves.

And mercy more than life
They valued mercy more than their own lives.

America, America may God thy gold refine
This line shows a prayer for God to refine and improve America.

'Til all success be nobleness
The prayer continues, asking that all success in America be made noble.

And every gain divined
This line is furthering the prayer by saying all gains in the country will be blessed and divined.

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies
This verse describes the beauty of America's spacious skies.

For amber waves of grain
The verse continues to describe America's beauty by referring to its amber waves of grain.

For purple mountain majesties
This line refers to America's majestic purple mountains.

Above the fruited plain
The hills and mountains rise above the fruited plains.

God done shed his grace on thee
This line talks about how God showed favor to America by granting blessings and graces upon it.

He crowned thy good, yes he did, in brotherhood
Brotherhood is what made America great, brought people together and helped to accomplish good things.

From sea to shining sea
This line refers to the idea that America is great across the entire width of the country, from one shining sea to the other.

I wish I had somebody to help me sing this
This line expresses a desire for someone else to join in singing the praises of America.

(America, America, God shed his grace on thee)
This line repeats the idea that God has graciously shed his grace on America.

America, I love you America, you see
The singer is expressing love for America.

My God he done shed his grace on thee
There is a further repeat of the idea that God has blessed America.

And you oughta love him for it
The singer urges others to appreciate God's generosity in blessing America.

'Cause he, he, he, he crowned thy good
This verse repeats the idea of brotherhood as a way of bringing about good things in America.

He told me he would, with brotherhood
The line further repeats the idea that achieving good things in America can be accomplished with brotherhood.

(From sea to shining Sea)
The song ends on a repeat of the phrase that describes the greatness of America from one shining sea to the other.