God Bless America (song)
"God Bless America" is a patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918, originally conceived for a military musical revue titled "Yip Yip Yaphank." Although Berlin set the song aside at first, he revisited it in 1938 amidst rising global tensions from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Believing that the United States needed a patriotic revival, he revised the lyrics and presented the song to radio star Kate Smith, who debuted it on her show, "The Kate Smith Hour," on November 11, 1938, coinciding with Armistice Day. Smith's powerful performance and commanding presence helped the song resonate with the American public, and it quickly became associated with World War II.
Over the years, "God Bless America" has evolved into one of the most cherished patriotic anthems in the U.S., often performed during significant national events. Its popularity surged following the September 11, 2001 attacks, reinforcing its status in contemporary American culture. The song's blend of a gentle hymn and a vigorous march reflects themes of hope and resilience, making it a poignant expression of national pride. Today, it is commonly sung at various public gatherings, including professional baseball games, highlighting its enduring impact and significance in American society.
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God Bless America (song)
Identification Popular patriotic song invoking divine guidance
Composer Irving Berlin
Date Debuted on radio November 11, 1938
As the spread of fascism raised fears of war in Europe, Americans embraced an anthem reaffirming God’s support of the nation’s values, traditions, and destiny. The song became the signature tune of its first radio performer, Kate Smith.
Irving Berlin wrote this song as an Army sergeant in 1918 while preparing a military musical revue entitled Yip Yip Yaphank. At the time, he felt the song did not fit the needs of the show and put it aside. Twenty years later, with Adolf Hitler on the ascendancy and Japan rising to greater power in Asia, Berlin, himself a Jew and creator of some of the most beloved patriotic songs of World War I, believed the United States needed a patriotic reawakening to prepare for possible confrontation even while celebrating peace.
Berlin pulled the older work from his files, revised some lines, and gave it to Kate Smith, a radio singing star, to introduce on her popular weekly show The Kate Smith Hour. The song debuted on November 11, 1938, then widely recognized as Armistice Day, a holiday devoted to the memory of those who died in World War I and the goal of international peace.
Smith, a woman who weighed more than two hundred pounds, performed the song with conviction. The tune begins as a gentle hymn but swells into a strident march as it moves toward the last lines, and Smith’s matronly presence and firm resolve as she built to the last high note, which she always hit a cappella in her clear strong soprano, conveyed righteous strength. The song was an immediate hit throughout the nation and was the song Americans associated with World War II.
Impact
Through the rest of the twentieth century, God Bless America continued as one of the most revered patriotic songs in the United States. Its increased usage after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and its subsequent adoption for seventh-inning-stretch performances in professional baseball demonstrate its ongoing popularity in the twenty-first century.
Bibliography
Collins, Ace. Songs Sung Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America’s Best-Loved Patriotic Songs. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
Phillips, Kimberley Ann. “Keeping a Record of Life: Women and Art During World War II.” OAH Magazine of History 19, no. 2 (March, 2005): 20-24.
Smith, Kathleen E. R. God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003.