Friday, September 25, 2009

experience coming to the New World

Far
We've been travelling far




Without a home
But not without a star


Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to america
Never looking back again
They're coming to america

Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're travelling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm


Everywhere around the world
They're coming to america
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to america


Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to america



Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to america



They're coming to america
They're coming to america
They're coming to america
They're coming to america
Today, today, today, today, today
"America" by Neil Diamond










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17 comments:

  1. kjSeptember 25, 2009 at 1:21 AM

    oh margaret, i loved seeing and reading this!

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  2. FrikoSeptember 25, 2009 at 6:19 AM

    very sensitively put together. I am a Diamond fan but have never before thought to put images to his words. Thanks.

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  3. Sharon WagnerSeptember 25, 2009 at 9:09 AM

    I wish I could keep traveling till I've seen all of America. And I'd like to start in Hawaii!

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  4. MarionSeptember 25, 2009 at 10:25 AM

    Such a beautiful post, Margaret. And I've loved Neil Diamond since my teens. Your photos perfectly illustrated his great song! Blessings!

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  5. Lynne with an eSeptember 25, 2009 at 10:32 AM

    Excellent illustration of the lyrics, Margaret. My Italian grandfather sailed to Ellis Island, and never returned to his homeland. He had a hard life here, but infinitely better than what he would have had in his village. In the end, he had a beautiful home in California, with grapes and orange and lemon trees. Now all that is gone from our family. Life moves on.

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  6. Wanda.....September 25, 2009 at 11:28 AM

    Beautiful post Margaret...coming to America...it made me think of my ancestors in away...being a descedant of the Indian Princess Pocahontas and John Rolfe from England...

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  7. GrySeptember 25, 2009 at 11:34 AM

    Amazing! The pictures and the words put together!

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  8. Margaret PangertSeptember 26, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    Hi kj! Thanks for stopping by and the compliment!
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    Hi Friko! Thanks! I wanted to play the song, but I'm not that handy with the html, etc., for YouTube.
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    Hi Sharon! Of course you would start in Hawaii! You're a mermaid!
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    Hi Marion! Thanks! As I was explaining to Friko, I couldn't download the song! I love his voice.
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    Hi Lynne! I wish I had had your grandfather's name; I woud have looked him up. California's central valley has land very similar to Italy's. Isn't it great you have those roots, though? It's like a little treasure box we get at birth.
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    Hi Wanda! Wow, that's amazing! In a way, I wish they would have stayed here. No wonder you are so close to the earth.
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    Hi Gry! Thanks! Notice that first photo of a schooner. It's actually going from Sweden to Denmark!

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  9. SheliaSeptember 27, 2009 at 12:51 PM

    Margaret, your artwork is so unusual. Where does it come from? Shelia

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  10. VoxBoxSeptember 27, 2009 at 2:41 PM

    Great pics from the city. Very enjoyable post Thanks Margaret.

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  11. The SagittarianSeptember 27, 2009 at 5:54 PM

    hehe, funny you should post that song as that was the one in my head as I landed in New York years ago! Except I sang "I'm coming to America"...great post!

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  12. angela recadaSeptember 28, 2009 at 9:42 AM

    Beautiful! As an immigrant, myself, I remember my awe at seeing the Statue of Liberty up close as our ocean liner slid past her on our way to the Harbor in New York City. It still makes my spine tingle to think about it.

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  13. MeriSeptember 28, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    I often wonder about my ancestors and their journeys to America. If only they had written down their thoughts and experiences and passed the wisdom along.

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  14. OwenSeptember 28, 2009 at 1:55 PM

    Hi Margaret, I don't mean to be negative, but the words to this song, a glorification of certain ideals, make me think that we tend to forget that the creation of this "America" was only possible in the wake of a horrendous genocide, a period of massive ethnic cleansing that lasted from the time the first European "settlers" arrived in the 1500's through the end of the 19th century, or even the early 20th century. Our great grandparents would have been witness to the end of it... so yes, "America" is a grand notion, a shining star of sorts, it became a haven for many of the world's dispossessed or oppressed, but let us not forget the ignominy from which it hatched, to create this haven for the dispossessed of mainly European origin, the original inhabitants and rightful owners were brutally dispossed and massacred and caged if they survived... my apology for being the bull in the china shop, I'm sure you are conscious of these things and did not intend to diminish them... See the photos of Edward Curtis...

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  15. Margaret PangertSeptember 28, 2009 at 7:47 PM

    Hi Shelia! Great to hear from you! My artwork? You mean these photos? (Some times I make collages). These are mostly my photos from a recent trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island with my niece. There's a shot in my house on the 4th of July. Mount Rushmore was taken about two years ago on a cross country trip. I shot the sunset at the New Jersey shore. The star Vega photo is from the Hubble Space Telescope. I tried to match this song with pictures from my photo archives.
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    Hi Blues! Thanks! Have you been there?
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    Hi Saj! How different it is now from those days! You just disembark and show your passport!
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    Hi Angela! I think everyone who has that experience feels a tingle go up the spine. It's an amazing view.
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    Hi Meri! They've managed to capture quite a few bio's at Ellis Island. They very authentically demonstrate what immigration was like at that time. Ellis Island is really a fascinating place to visit if you get the chance.
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    Hi Owen! Yes, we all have blood on our hands. It also seems that many--not all--of the immigrants were themselves escaping genocide and incredibly cruel times; others were opportunists and fortune hunters. And let's not forget the forced immigration of slavery. My grandparents were pioneers, settling in northern California, and they witnessed the end of the Yahi tribe, Ishi being the last surviving Native American there. In many ways, Americans have repaid their karma: WW I & II, the Peace Corps, foreign aid, etc.

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  16. VoxBoxOctober 1, 2009 at 3:57 PM

    I Have been there twice actually but it has been many years.

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  17. Margaret PangertOctober 6, 2009 at 11:51 PM

    Hi Blues~ As I recall, you are of Irish lineage having come through there, isn't that so?

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