The History and Legacy of “God Bless America”

NOTE: I wrote this article for Goldmine magazine; it was published in October 2001, just immediately after the September 11th terrorist attacks.  I worked with Richard K. Hayes of the Kate Smith Commemorative Society on the original article.  This article has been updated for this blog post reprinting.

They stood at the steps of the Capitol, Democrats and Republicans who on any other day would argue health care reform or pork-barrel bills in the great Rotunda.  But on this day, September 11, 2001, only hours after the terrorist attacks on New York City and on Washington, our elected officials stood as one, singing “God Bless America” as a show of support in our country’s darkest hour.

The song was originally written for a World War I comedy musical.  It inspired Woody Guthrie to write his own musical response, which became a patriotic standard in its own right.  And its performance by one of America’s most beloved vocalists helped to sell millions of war bonds – and guided a hockey team win the Stanley Cup.

Irving Berlin was already a successful Broadway writer and composer when, in 1918, he was drafted and told to report to Long Island’s Camp Upton.  Although he was prepared to serve his country in any way possible, he was not prepared for 5:00 a.m. reveille.  While in camp, he composed a song based on his experiences, called “Oh How I Hate To Get Up In the Morning.”  The song reached the camp officers, who decided to put Berlin’s talents to better use.  In exchange for Berlin being allowed to work late and sleep later, he would write and compose music for an all-soldier comedy show, Yip! Yip! Yaphank!, which would help raise money for an on-base community house.

“God Bless America” was among the songs that were part of Yip! Yip! Yaphank!, and Berlin planned to use that song for the finale.  The title was inspired by Berlin’s mother, who with her family escaped from the Russian pogroms in 1893.  As a child, Berlin remembered his mother often saying “God Bless America.”  “And not casually, but with emotion that was almost exaltation,” he later wrote.  But the solemn, reverent “God Bless America” did not fit in a ribald comedy musical, and after a few performances, the song was removed from the show.

We now fast forward to 1938.  If you were a fan of popular music in the late 1930’s, the most popular female singer at that time was vocalist Kate Smith.  Smith’s career began in the 1920’s, performing on Broadway in such musicals as Honeymoon Lane and Flying High.  A few years later, she was hosting her own radio shows, and recording million-selling 78’s for the Columbia label.  With her ebullient personality and stunning contralto voice, Smith rivaled Bing Crosby as the country’s most popular vocalist.  At one point, she even owned a professional basketball team, the Kate Smith Celtics.

With heightened tensions and war breaking out throughout Europe, Smith needed a patriotic song for her radio show.  She and her manager Ted Collins visited Berlin’s music studio in New York City, and asked the famed songwriter if he had anything that was both patriotic and reverent.  Berlin reached into a file drawer and pulled out “God Bless America.”

Berlin changed some of the lyrics from his original 1918 composition, replacing “from the green fields of Virginia / to the gold fields out in Nome” with “From the mountains to the prairies / To the oceans white with foam.”  After some other minor adjustments, he gave the song to Collins and Smith.

On Armistice Day, November 11, 1938 (what we now call Veterans Day), Smith told her radio audience about the song and her reasons for performing it that night.  “This year, with the war clouds of Europe so lately threatening the peace of the entire world, I felt I wanted to do something special – something that would not only be a memorial to our soldiers – but would also emphasize just how much America means to each and every one of us … The song is ‘God Bless America’; the composer, Mr. Irving Berlin.  When I first tried it over, I felt, here is a song that will be timeless – it will never die – others will thrill to its beauty long after we are gone.  In my humble estimation, this is the greatest song Irving Berlin has ever composed … As I stand before the microphone and sing it with all my heart, I’ll be thinking of our veterans and I’ll be praying with every breath I draw that we shall never have another war…”

With that, she performed “God Bless America” for the first time.  She had invited Berlin to attend the show, but the shy composer graciously declined.  After the broadcast, however, the phones at Berlin’s music publishing company were flooded with calls and requests, asking for “that new song Kate Smith just sang.”  He then went to Smith’s broadcast studio, where the singer was performing the same radio show – this time on a three-hour delay for the West Coast audiences.  As the show ended, Smith brought Berlin up to the stage, and hugged him.

Smith performed “God Bless America” every week on her radio show, selling nearly 400,000 pages of sheet music.  On March 21, 1939, she recorded both that song and “The Star Spangled Banner” for RCA Victor, which became an instant hit.  Both the Democratic and Republican parties used the song as their 1940 convention themes.  And as the United States entered the Second World War, the song became a beacon of hope for soldiers and sailors overseas – and for their families at home.

This clip from the motion picture This Is The Army recreates Kate Smith’s initial radio performance, and the impact it had on its listeners.

So stirring was the performance, that for several years Irving Berlin gave Kate Smith the exclusive right to perform and record “God Bless America.”  In fact, during World War II Smith used her fame and exposure to sell more than $600 million in War Bonds, more sales than any other performer.  While “God Bless America” helped her sell War Bonds, Irving Berlin donated all his royalties for “God Bless America”, in perpetuity, to the Boy Scouts of America.  Smith donated her performance royalties, in turn, to the Girl Scouts of America.

Not everyone was originally behind “God Bless America,” however.  Some people were bothered that the song was written by a Jewish immigrant.  Others felt that the song was too mawkish, mixing politics with religion.  Songwriter Woody Guthrie went one step further – after hearing “God Bless America” one time too many, he composed what he felt would be an appropriate answer.  Guthrie’s original song had the refrain “God blessed America for me,” but in time that lyric was changed to “This land was made for you and me.”  Ironically, Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has become, along with “God Bless America,” one of our country’s favorite anthems.

“God Bless America” was re-released over the years – sometimes with Smith’s original 1939 version, other times with a new recording.  In 1947, she re-recorded “God Bless America” with a B-side of “Bless This House” on MGM Records.  In 1959, she released an LP called Kate Smith Sings God Bless America.  On November 2, 1963, a Kate Smith concert performance, which contained “God Bless America,” was recorded by RCA Victor and released as Kate Smith at Carnegie Hall.  The Carnegie Hall version of “God Bless America” was released as the flip side of the John F. Kennedy tribute song “In The Summer Of His Years”, which was released one week after the Kennedy assassination.

In the 1970’s, “God Bless America” achieved a new form of popularity – as a hockey anthem.  In order to invigorate his hockey team, Philadelphia Flyers vice president Lou Scheinfeld replaced the opening game rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” with Kate Smith’s immortal classic.  The Flyers won that first game, a 6-3 thrashing of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and “God Bless America” became a good luck charm for the Flyers.  On four occasions, Kate Smith was actually chauffeured from her home in New York City to the Philadelphia Spectrum, and stepped onto the ice to sing“God Bless America” for the Broad Street faithful.  One performance, on May 19, 1974, spurred the Flyers to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins – Philadelphia’s first win in a Stanley Cup final.  Smith also performed on May 13, 1975, as the Flyers defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 to take their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.  Whether “God Bless America” was sung live, or whether it was played on tape, the Philadelphia Flyers won 63 games, against only 15 losses and three ties with their musical good-luck charm.

Both Smith and Berlin were honored for their contributions to the world of music.  In 1955, Berlin received a gold medal from President Dwight Eisenhower, in recognition of his services in composing patriotic songs for the country, including “God Bless America.”

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan honored Kate Smith with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  In his speech, Reagan recalled his own personal feelings toward Smith’s music in general, and “God Bless America” in particular.  “It’s been truly said that one of the most inspiring things that our GI’s in World War II in Europe and the Pacific, and later in Korea and Vietnam, ever heard was the voice of Kate Smith. The same is true for all of us … Those simple but deeply moving words, “God bless America,” have taken on added meaning for all of us because of the way Kate Smith sang them. Thanks to her they have become a cherished part of all our lives, an undying reminder of the beauty, the courage and the heart of this great land of ours. In giving us a magnificent, selfless talent like Kate Smith, God has truly blessed America.”

When Kate Smith passed away in 1986, a clip from the motion picture This Is The Army appeared on every TV newscast – a clip of Smith singing “God Bless America.”  And when Irving Berlin passed away in 1989, at the age of 101, a small group of mourners outside his New York City apartment serenaded his legacy with a spontaneous rendition of “God Bless America.”

Have a happy and enjoyable Fourth of July weekend.

For more information on the life of Kate Smith, including her involvement with “God Bless America,” visit the Kate Smith Commemorative Society homepage.