By the time I was thirteen
I started taking shape
At eighteen I was so beautiful
That the strangers started to gape
They said "Enter the ultimate contest
If you're as gorgeous as you seem"
They said "Please, please, please
Be our American dream"
But late that night beneath the grieving moon
There's a dazzling sight in my motel room
For a grunting judge with his bulging eyes
I give my all for his cherished prize

Oh why, oh why?
I'm Miss America
Crying on TV
Silver clad in satin rags,
But everything's where it should be
Oh say can you see, ah say can you see

After they showed me the game ball
They told me put on weight
They told me I'd be powerful
They told me I'd be great
And my Uncle Sam he would coach me
His helmet on my head
And they said "Please, please please, please
Please win and beat the spread"
But the new game plan that the owners had made
Meant that win or lose there would be a trade
For the team's become a real gold mine
And the kid's sold off for the bottom line

Oh why, oh why?
Mr America
Sweating on TV
The winner's joy from the battered boy
For everything's where it should be
Oh say can you see, ah say can you see

At last we've come together
Call it marriage or civil war
If it brings us to battle, babe
It must be worth our fighting for
Though today came up cloudy
There will be other days
"Ah, please, please, please, please
What else is there to say?"
But in plywood spread
By a plastic stream
And in separate beds with a borrowed dream
And with questions wide and the silence deep
We take two pills so at last we'll sleep

Oh why, oh why?
Mr and Mrs America
Our story's on TV
Can you hear canned laughter
For everything's where it should be
Oh say can you see, ah say can you see

Well, my little boy he told me something
Just the other night
He whispered it as I kissed him
Before I turned out the light
And of course he said it simple
As only children can
He said "Daddy, daddy, daddy, please
I'm ready to dream again"