The Flagmaker, 1775

With the guns flaring

And drums pounding

There's no hope of getting rest

With the lights glaring

And calls sounding

And the clenching in your chest

When the man's in battle

And the baby's rattle

Only makes you more depressed

The wise woman does what she knows

If it's fighting she fights

If it's sewing she sews

When the tension inside

Overflows and goes to far

One more star, one more stripe

To escape your lonely bed

One more star, one more stripe

Join the blue, the white and red

One more star, one more stripe

As you pray your child's not dead

With the roof leaking

And walls wetter

And the night as black as pitch

With the wind shrieking

And his last letter

Says his fighting in a ditch

Then the candle flickers

And the river bickers

What else can you do but stitch

One more star, one more stripe

Til you feel the rising sun

One more star, one more stripe

Til this foolishness is done

One more star, one more stripe

We'll be waiting when we've won

Grab a needle, grab a thimble

If it's all that keeps you sane

Think of freedom as a symbol

Think of justice as a game

Think of life with independence

Think of muskets and brigades

Think of taking the oppressors

Think of banners and parades

When the gate creaks

And the paint cracks

And the cat cries

And the night falls

Raise a flag

Raise a flag

Raise a flag til you're free

One more star, one more stripe

Til this bloodshed's finally through

One more star, one more stripe

Til they come back home to you

One more star, one more stripe

When there's nothing you can do

If they take all the things

That define what you were,

And are

One more star