“Love, American Style” is a great song by The Cowsills, a band much better known for recording the song “Hair.”
The “Love, American Style” song was the theme for a TV show of the same name name. According to TV.com, the hour-long show debuted on ABC in the fall of 1969 with “stories about common people finding love in all walks of life. Each hour-long show would give us either one, two, three, or four stories of love.”
THE PROBLEM: The full lyrics to this song do not seem to exist online, even on the Cowsills’ own website. At best, you can find a transcription of the ~30 seconds used as the intro to the TV show. So as a public service, Daily Heights presents the only page on the Internet where you can find the full lyrics to “Love, American Style.” Including chords. After the break.
Love, American Style
La-hove, love, … (clap) la-ha-hooove …
Love, American style, truer than the red, white and blue
Love, American style, that’s me and you
And on a star-spangled night my love, (My love come to me)…
Love, American Style
C
La-hove, love, … (clap) la-ha-hooove …
Bb Am Gm F
Love, American style, truer than the red white and blue.
Bb Am G4(?) C
Love, American style, that’s me and you.
F5 G (bass stays on F)
And on a star-spangled night my love (My love come to me)
Bbm F
You can rest your head on my shoulder
F5 G
Out by the dawn’s early light, my love
Bbm let’s try: F F7 Dm C
I will defend your right to try (I’ll defend your right to…}
Love, American style, freer than the land of the free
Love, American style, that’s you and me
We pledge our love ‘neath the same old moon
But it shines red, white and blue
Upon this land of hopes and dreams my love
Where all I hope for tis of thee
Love, American style, truer than the red, white and blue
Love, American style, that’s me and you
Modulate-Instr
G#4 Bb
Upon this land of hopes and dreams my love
C#m C
Where all I hope for tis of thee … (love, love, love…)
Love, American style, freer than the land of the free
Love, American style, truer than the red, white and blue
Love, American Style, freer than the land of the free
Love, American style, truer than the red, white and blue …
Ah, The Cowsills. I often hum my favorite Cowsills song: “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things.” My dream is to find that song in a jukebox in Prospect Heights.
I love that song (“the Rain …”). I even have it on my i-Pod. But I also like The Cowsill’s “Hair”: “Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair; Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen; Give me down to there, hair! Shoulder length, longer (hair!);
Here baby, there mama, Everywhere daddy daddy” ….. Groovy, or what?
Anyone remember the song “Indian Lake” also by the Cowsills? That’s the first most popularized I can remember from my childhood which came out well before “Love American Style” which most everyone knows best of all.