Schoolhouse Rock!

"The Preamble"

Original Air Date

November 1, 1975

This song teaches about the opening to the United States Constitution, with its preamble set to music. When writing this song, they had to remove a small section of the preamble to make the song rhyme. This song was voted the 6th best song on the 30th Anniversary DVD Top 25.

Lyrics to "The Preamble"

Hey, do you know about the U.S.A.?

Do you know about the government?

Can you tell me about the Constitution?

Hey, learn about the U.S.A.

In 1787 I'm told

Our founding fathers did agree

To write a list of principles

For keeping people free.

The U.S.A. was just starting out

A whole brand-new country

And so our people spelled it out

The things that we should be

And they put those principles down on paper and called it the Constitution, and it's been helping us run our country ever since then. The first part of the Constitution is called the preamble and tells what those founding fathers set out to do.

We the people

In order to form a more perfect union

Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility

Provide for the common defense

Promote the general welfare and

Secure the blessings of liberty

To ourselves and our posterity

Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

In 1787 I'm told

Our founding fathers all sat down

And wrote a list of principles

That's known the world around

The U.S.A. was just starting out

A whole brand-new country

And so our people spelled it out

They wanted a land of liberty

And the Preamble goes like this:

We the people

In order to form a more perfect union

Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility

Provide for the common defense

Promote the general welfare and

Secure the blessings of liberty

To ourselves and our posterity

Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

For the United States of America . . .