Released: January 19, 1987
Songwriter: David Hidalgo Louie Pérez
Producer: Los Lobos T Bone Burnett
A wise man was telling stories to me
About the places he had been to
And the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
A lady dressed in white with the man she loved
Standing along the side of their pickup truck
A shot rang out in the night
Just when everything seemed right
Another headline written down in America
The guy that lived next door in #305
Took the kids to the park and disappeared
About half past nine
Who will ever know
How much she loved them so
That dark night alone in America
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
Four small boys playing ball in a parking lot
A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
A car skidded into the rain
Making the last little one a saint
One more light goes out in America
A young girl tosses a coin in the wishing well
She hopes for a heaven while for her
There's just this hell
She gave away her life
To become somebody's wife
Another wish unanswered in America
People having so much faith
Die too soon while all the rest come late
We write a song that no one sings
On a cold black stone
Where a lasting peace will finally bring
The sunlight plays upon my windowpane
I wake up to a world that's still the same
My father said to be strong
And that a good man could never do wrong
In a dream I had last night in America
A wise man was telling storie to me
About the places he had been to
And the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
About the places he had been to
And the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
A lady dressed in white with the man she loved
Standing along the side of their pickup truck
A shot rang out in the night
Just when everything seemed right
Another headline written down in America
The guy that lived next door in #305
Took the kids to the park and disappeared
About half past nine
Who will ever know
How much she loved them so
That dark night alone in America
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
Four small boys playing ball in a parking lot
A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
A car skidded into the rain
Making the last little one a saint
One more light goes out in America
A young girl tosses a coin in the wishing well
She hopes for a heaven while for her
There's just this hell
She gave away her life
To become somebody's wife
Another wish unanswered in America
People having so much faith
Die too soon while all the rest come late
We write a song that no one sings
On a cold black stone
Where a lasting peace will finally bring
The sunlight plays upon my windowpane
I wake up to a world that's still the same
My father said to be strong
And that a good man could never do wrong
In a dream I had last night in America
A wise man was telling storie to me
About the places he had been to
And the things that he had seen
A quiet voice is singing something to me
An age old song about the home of the brave
In this land here of the free
One time one night in America
more tracks from the album
El Cancionero Mas Y Mas
- Lil’ King of Everything
- Wicked Rain
- Midnight Shift
- Why Do You Do
- Bertha
- Come On, Let’s Go
- Tomorrow Never Knows (live 1993)
- Is This All There Is?
- Someday
- Dream in Blue
- Oh Yeah
- Sabor a Mi
- That Train Don’t Stop Here
- River of Fools
- The Neighborhood
- Angels With Dirty Faces
- How Much Can I Do?
- I Got Loaded
- Set Me Free (Rosa Lee)
- When the Circus Comes
- Goodnight My Love
- Route 90
- She’s About a Mover (live 1996)
- Mas y Mas
- This Bird’s Gonna Fly
- Angel Dance
- Cumbia Raza (English version)
- Beautiful Maria of My Soul
- Lonely Avenue
- This Time
- Rip It Up
- Down Where the Drunkards Roll
- Can’t Stop the Rain
- Anselma
- Corrido #1
- Kiko and the Lavender Moon
- La Bamba
- Be Still
- Saint Behind the Glass
- Quatro Vicios [Ry Cooder with David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas]
- Let’s Say Goodnight
- I Walk Alone
- Peace (demo)
- Estoy Sentado Aqui
- Will the Wolf Survive?
- Lonesome Tears in My Eyes
- Maricela
- Tears of God
- Viking
- I Can’t Understand
- Don’t Worry Baby
- Down on the Riverbed
- Revolution
- Alone in a Crowd
- I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)
- Evangeline
- Guantanamera
- Little John of God
- What’s Going On?
- Shakin’ Shakin’ Shakes
- Till the Hands Fall Off the Clock
- My Baby’s Gone
- Try Me
- La Pistola y el Corazón
- Rio de Tenampa (demo)
- One Time, One Night
- A Matter of Time
From the albums
- By the Light of the Moon (1987)
- El Cancionero Mas Y Mas (2000)
Los Lobos popular songs
- Canción Del Mariachi
- La Bamba
- We Belong Together
- Beautiful Maria of My Soul
- Rango Theme Song
- Kitate
- Luz de Mi Vida
- Huelga en general (feat. Carmen Moreno & Steve Salas)
- I Can’t Understand
- De colores (feat. The Children of Escuela Santa Isabel)
- Que Nadie Sepa Mi Sufrir
- Run Away With You
- Don’t Worry Baby
- No Puedo Más
- Chuco’s Cumbia
- Down on the Riverbed
- One Time, One Night
- Wooly Bully
- Wreck of the Carlos Rey
- Rio de Tenampa
- Jupiter or the Moon
- Rio de Tenampa (demo)
- The Ugly Bug Ball
- The Breakdown