Story Behind The Song

One day I was thinking of the Statue of Liberty and what a good idea liberty was. I was then inspired to write a song which explored my relationship with America as an Englishman who had never been there, who knew of it only through certain films and songs that he liked.

Song Description

A song inspired by the Statue of Liberty and the idea of liberty. A plea to America to plant seeds of peace not war. The relationship of an English man with America, which he has never visited, and knows only through certain films and songs that he likes.

Lyrics

The Guardian Angel of New York Harbour

I never sailed to America,
I never learned of her democracy,
but I've seen the guardian angel
of New York harbour,
the Statue of Liberty.
They should have looked to her more.
She would have guided them
safely home to shore,
but now peace flows in on the ocean tides,
and there'll be no more war, America.

The seeds that flow in on the tides, America,
plant them and see them flower.
Follow the light of the Statue of Liberty,
the guardian angel of New York harbour.

I've seen Manhattan on the silver screen,
all the way from the silent movie comedies.
Buster Keaton hanging from the truck of a railway train,
escaping from his sad calamities.
Thank you for making us smile
with your Hollywood fantasies.

The seeds that flow in on the tides, America,
plant them and see them flower.
Follow the light of the Statue of Liberty,
the guardian angel of New York harbour.

I am a child of the English shore.
Our history has her own aristocracy.
But I know your sky scraper sky line
from the films I've seen,
and the songs that comfort me.
Stereo sound panoramas took me close to you,
I sat beside you in a taxi before my aeroplane flew,
flew away from America.

The seeds that flow in on the tides, America,
plant them and see them flower.
Follow the light of the Statue of Liberty,
the guardian angel of New York harbour,
the guardian angel of New York harbour,
the guardian angel of New York harbour.