God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run-up to World War II in 1938. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song.
"God Bless America" takes the form of a prayer for God's blessing and peace for the nation.
History
wrote the song at the end of World War I while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York. He decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her to the right with the light from above".Music critic Jody Rosen says that a 1906 Jewish dialect novelty song, "When Mose with His Nose Leads the Band," contains a six-note fragment that is "instantly recognizable as the opening strains of 'God Bless America'". He interprets this as an example of Berlin's "habit of interpolating bits of half-remembered songs into his own numbers." Berlin, born Israel Baline, had himself written several Jewish-themed novelty tunes.
In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Irving Berlin, who was Jewish and had arrived in the U.S. from Russia at the age of five, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show. This song has become the performer's calling card. Berlin had made some minor changes; by this time, "to the right" might have been considered a call to the political right, so he substituted "through the night" instead. He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used: "While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer." This was changed when Berlin published the sheet music in March 1939.
Woody Guthrie criticized the song, and in 1940 he wrote "This Land Is Your Land," originally titled "God Blessed America For Me," as a response. Anti-Semitic groups such as the Ku Klux Klan also protested against the song due to its authorship by a Jewish immigrant.
In 1943, Smith's rendition was featured in the patriotic musical film This is the Army along with other Berlin songs. The manuscripts in the Library of Congress reveal the evolution of the song from victory to peace. Berlin gave the royalties of the song to The God Bless America Fund for redistribution to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in New York City. Smith performed the song on her two NBC television series in the 1950s. "God Bless America" also spawned another of Irving Berlin's tunes, "Heaven Watch The Philippines," during the end of World War II. The Philippines was an American possession since 1898 and recently liberated from Japanese occupation; Berlin wrote it after he heard Filipinos singing a modified version of the song replacing "America" with "The Philippines."
The song was used early in the Civil Rights Movement as well as at labor rallies. During the 1960s counterculture, the song was increasingly used by Christian conservatives in the US to signal their opposition to secular liberalism and to silence dissenters who were speaking in favor of communism or in opposition to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Later, from December 11, 1969, through the early 1970s, the playing of Smith singing the song before many home games of the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers brought it renewed popularity as well as a reputation for being a "good luck charm" to the Flyers long before it became a staple of nationwide sporting events. The Flyers brought Smith in to perform live before Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals on May 19, 1974, and the Flyers won the Cup that day.
Lyrics
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.
God bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home,
God bless America, my home sweet home.
Notable public performances
In 1940, "God Bless America" was the official campaign song for both President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie. At that time, the song represented cultural and religious tolerance.Irving Berlin personally performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 5, 1968, during an episode dedicated to him in honor of his 80th birthday.
During a live television broadcast on the evening of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, following addresses by then House and Senate leaders, Speaker Dennis Hastert and Tom Daschle, members of the United States Congress broke out into an apparently spontaneous verse of "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
On July 21, 2011, Smith's version of the song was played as NASA's final wakeup call for Space Shuttle Atlantis, capping the 30-year Space Shuttle program.
Sports events
National Hockey League
"God Bless America" has been performed at home games of the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers and those of the Ottawa Senators in which the visiting team is from the United States.At some Flyers' home games, especially during big games and the playoffs, their main anthem singer, Lauren Hart, has sung "God Bless America" alternating lyrics with Kate Smith on a video screen, until 2019. Smith actually appeared in person to sing at select Flyers games, including their 1974 Stanley Cup clinching game against the Boston Bruins, to which she received a thunderous ovation from the passionate Philadelphia fans. Before games whenever "God Bless America" is performed until 2019, Lou Nolan, the PA announcer for the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center, would say: "Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we ask that you please rise and remove your hats and salute to our flags and welcome the No. 1 ranked anthemist in the NHL, our very own Lauren Hart, as she sings God Bless America, accompanied by the great Kate Smith."
At some Senators home games since, if the visiting team is from the U.S., their main anthem singer, Ontario Provincial Police Constable Lyndon Slewidge, has sung "God Bless America" and "O Canada." An example of this came during the Senators' home opener during the 2002–03 season, when they were home against the New Jersey Devils.
During Tom Golisano's time as owner of the Buffalo Sabres, the team occasionally substituted "God Bless America" for "The Star-Spangled Banner" during certain special events. When this occurred, Ronan Tynan was brought in to sing the song while usual anthem singer Doug Allen sang "O Canada."
Major League Baseball
At Chicago's Wrigley Field during the Vietnam War, the song was often played by the organist as part of his postgame playlist while fans filed out of the stadium.Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "God Bless America" is commonly sung during the seventh-inning stretch in Major League Baseball games, most often on Sundays, Opening Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, All-Star Game, Labor Day, September 11, and most post-season Major League Baseball games including the World Series. Following the attacks, John Dever, then the Assistant Media Relations Director of the San Diego Padres, suggested the song replace "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", the more traditional 7th inning anthem. Major League Baseball quickly followed the Padres lead and instituted it league-wide for the rest of the season. Presently, teams decide individually when to play the song.
The New York Yankees, at Yankee Stadium home games, is currently the only Major League club to play "God Bless America" at every game during the seventh-inning stretch. The Yankees' YES Network televises its performance during all games before going to a commercial. During major games, such as Opening Day, national holidays, playoff contests, or games against the Boston Red Sox or New York Mets, the Yankees will often have Irish tenor Ronan Tynan perform the song.
On August 26, 2008, at a Boston Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium, a fan who had attempted to leave for the restroom during the playing of the song was restrained and subsequently sent out of the building by NYPD officers. Part of the resolution of the resulting lawsuit was that the New York Yankees announced that they would no longer restrict the movement of fans during the playing of the song.
On September 15, 2009, three high school teens filed a lawsuit against New Jersey's minor league Newark Bears for being ejected from Eagles Riverfront Stadium over their refusal to stand during the playing of "God Bless America" on June 29, 2009. Before being ejected, they were asked to leave the stadium by Bears president and co-owner Thomas Cetnar.
American football
At the January 1, 1976, Rose Bowl, to honor the start of the United States Bicentennial, Kate Smith and the UCLA Band performed "God Bless America" for a national television audience.On January 26, 2003, during the player introduction ceremonies of Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego, Celine Dion, accompanied by the Tops in Blue and an Army-Marines color guard representing Camp Pendleton and Fort Rosecrans, sang "God Bless America" in place of "America the Beautiful" before the Dixie Chicks sang the U.S. national anthem.
During the Super Bowl LI halftime show a pre-recorded introduction by Lady Gaga, who headlined the show, featured both "God Bless America" and "This Land is Your Land".