November 11, 2018 (Sunday)
America honors its veterans on Veteran’s Day. Irving Berlin considered “God Bless America” his most important work; and we present this patriotic song as our blog today. One of our very best patriotic songs, “God Bless America” serves as our hymn for today’s Sunday blog, honors God and all that America means to her people. It is fitting that it be sung on Veteran’s Day as we thank God for all those who have served this country in the armed forces. The presence of the veterans in our country is a constant reminder that freedom isn’t free.
Kate Smith made Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” popular, and predicted the song would remain popular long after her generation had passed. She appears to have been right.
Irving Berlin wrote “God Bless America” in 1918, for a camp show during WWI, but the song was rejected by the show’s producers, so Berlin placed it in in a trunk, where it remained until 1938, when Kate Smith, in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Armistice Day, sang it for the first time on her radio broadcast. It instantly became one of the most popular songs ever. For a time, there was a movement to make it the national anthem. It enjoyed a new burst of popularity following the events of September 11, 2001, and today may be heard often at public gatherings.
Irving Berlin
1918
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 ocean white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.