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Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins, Singable Art…and We The Kids, a Singable Picture Book (and 50 Nifty States!)

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: February 15, 2011

In: Art of Singing a Song | Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | Lyrics | Sing Along Tracks | Singable Book Title | Singable Picture Book Video | Song History | Vocal Tracks
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My kids and I recently visited the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum and we discovered a piece of Singable Art!

Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins
Smithsonian American Art Museum
http://americanart.si.edu

A short bio of Mike Wilkins on the Smithsonian American Art Museum Website, here:
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=5398

My children with the picture,

We went to the National Portrait Gallery (which shares a building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum near Chinatown in Washington, DC) with the mission to see portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to commemorate President’s Day. The woman seated at the Visitor’s Desk gave us the “must see artwork” short list for the museum, which included “Preamble.” I’ve walked by that installation many times before and never knew what it was. The artist collected licence plates from each of the 50 states with text and numbers that would spell out the Preamble to the Constitution. You’ve got to work at it a little, but start at the beginning and The Preamble emerges.

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The best part for me is that you can SING it! Lynn Ahrens set “The Preamble” to music for SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK in 1976!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_NzZvdsbWI

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The Preamble Song (Preamble Excerpt)
Words by Gouverneur Morris
Music by Lynn Ahrens

We the people (of the United States)
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.

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NOTE:
The only hitch with the lyrics to the song is that the phrase, “of the United States” is left out after the famous words “We the People.” You can insert the phrase by saying it out loud over the instrumental music in that spot or just take the pause.

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The Preamble to the United States Constitution
Words by Gouverneur Morris

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, 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.

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Note that the text above is a cut/paste from:
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
This text reflects the spelling as hand written on the original copy of the United States Constitution that resides at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

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You can find “The Preamble” in Singable Picture Books,

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We the Kids (The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States)
Forward by David Catrow
Illustrated by David Catrow
Sing this book with “The Preamble Song” from “School House Rock”
Additional Lyrics by
Music by Lynn Ahrens
(More information about the song, here: http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Preamble.html)

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The Constitution of the United States of America (With Benjamin Franklin’s Address to the Delegates Upon the Signing of the Constitution)
Inscribed and Illustrated by Sam Fink
The Preamble to the Constitution (which you can SING, thanks to Lynn Ahrens and School House Rock) is printed and illustrated in this AMAZING book. It’s a tall, heavy book with fabulous illustrations which illuminate a complete printing of the US Constitution and includes a chronology of and historical information about constitutional creation.
You can hear a clip of Lynn Ahrens singing The Preamble, on Track 4 of this link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B0000033XR/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_004?ie=UTF8&track=004&disc=001

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We the People (The Constitution of the United States of America)
Contains Singable Elements from the Untied States Constitution
Text by Peter Spier
Illustrated by Peter Spier

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For more information and a classroom activity (including a PDF with licence plates you can cut out and assemble into your own Preamble), here:
http://www.realclassroomideas.com/94.html

http://www.realclassroomideas.com/resources/Bulletin+Boards-+License+Plate+Preamble.pdf

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To view the United States Constitution to read a transcript, click here:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html

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PREAMBLE SONG (Full Text)
Words and Music by Lynn Ahrens
Preamble Text by Gouverneur Morris
From SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK

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 keepin’ people free.

The U.S.A. was just startin’ 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:

For the United States of America.

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11/8/2011
I have really been enjoying singing the School House Rock Preamble Song with kids at schools, pointing to the words as spelled out in Mike Wilkin’s wonderful work of art called “Preamble.”

I wondered out loud the other day of there was a licence plate for each state in this picture. I just counted them up and found that, indeed, there are 51. 51? Sure enough, there’s a license plate for each state and the extra one is for the District of Columbia.

Closer inspection reveals that not only is there a plate for each state, but the plates are in alphabetical order! This means to me that not only can one look at “Preamble” to sing “The Preamble Song,” but you can sing it with “Fifty Nifty States,” too!”

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Fifty Nifty States
Words and Music by Ray Charles
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
This item is for classroom, home, or library use only.

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Addendum 1/9/2013
Preamble Song, a Girl Scout Song for Troop 2740

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The Preamble Song (Preamble Excerpt)
Words by Gouverneur Morris
Music by Lynn Ahrens
To view or print this page, click here:
Preamble Song GSSLyrics