My grandmother came from Russia,
a satchel on her knee,
My grandfather had his father's cap
He brought from Italy.
They'd heard about a country
Where life might let them win
They paid the fare to America
and there they melted in.
Lovely Lady Liberty,
With her book of recipes,
and the finest one she's got
is the great American melting pot.
You simply melt right in
It doesn't matter what your skin
It doesn't matter where you're from
Or your religion, you jump right in
To the great American melting pot.
Oh what a stew,
Red white and blue.
America was the new world
And Europe was the old.
America was the land of hope,
Or so the legend told.
On steamboats by the millions,
in search of honest pay,
Those 19th-century immigrants
Sailed to reach the U.S.A.
Lovely Lady Liberty
With her book of recipes
And the finest one she's got
Is the great American melting pot
What good ingredients,
Liberty and immigrants.
They brought their countries' customs,
their language and their ways.
They filled the factories,
Tilled the soil,
Helped build the U.S.A.
Go on and ask your Grandma,
Hear what she has to tell,
How great to be an American
And something else as well.
Lovely Lady Liberty
With her book of recipes
And the finest one she's got
Is the great American melting pot.