I saw Willie Mays   At a Scotsdale Home Depot   Looking at Garage Door Springs   At the the far end of the 14th row      His wife stood there beside him   She was quiet and they both were proud   I gave them room but was close enough   That I heard him when he said out loud      This was my country   And this was my song   Somewhere in the middle there   Though it started badly and it's ending wrong      This was my country   This frightful and this angry land   But it's my right if the worst of it might still   Somehow make me a better man      The sun is unforgiving   And there's nobody who would choose this town   But we've squandered so much of our goodwill   That there's nowhere else will have us now      We're pushing line at the picture show   For cool air and a chance to see   A vision of ourselves portrayed   As younger and braver and humble and free      This was our country   This was our song   Somewhere in the middle there   Though it started badly and it's ending wrong      This was our country   This frightful and this angry land   But it's my right if the worst of it might still   Somehow make me a better man      I've started something I can't finish   And I barely leave the house, it's true   I keep a wrap on my sores and joints   But yes, I've had my blessings too      I've got my mother's pretty feet   And the factory keeps my house in shape   My children, they've both been paroled   And we get by on the piece we've made      I feel safe, so far from heaven   From towers and their ocean views   From here I see a future coming across   What soon will be beaches too      But that was him, I'm almost sure   The greatest centerfielder of all time   Stooped by the burden of endless dreams   His and yours and mine      He hooked each spring beneath his foot   He leaned over then he stood upright   Testing each against his weight   For one that had some play and some fight      He's just like us, I wanna tell him   And our needs are small enough   Something to slow a heavy door   Something to help us raise one up      And this was my country   This was my song   Somewhere in the middle there   Though it started badly and it's ending wrong      Well, this was God's country   This frightful and this angry land   But if it's his will, the worst of it might still   Somehow make me a better man      If it's his will, the worst of it might still   Somehow make me a better man