God Bless America

[rockbilly]

    What a beautiful performance by Kate Smith, it will bring a tear to your eye. It is also a very informative story.

   
     The link below will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of “GOD BLESS AMERICA.” But before you watch, you should also know the story of the song. The time was 1940. America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we’d have to go to war. It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.
This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers ? and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith. Kate was also large in size, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
Kate was also very patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America, and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (also wrote “White Christmas”) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before - way back in 1917. He gave it to Kate Smith and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from “God Bless America” any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple versus, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, “You’re In The Army Now.” At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper- it’s Ronald Reagan. Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they all pretended to have “dust in their eyes” as they wiped away a tear or two?
To this day, “God Bless America” stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, When Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt she realized just how successful the results would be ? for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry, and for many generations of Americans to follow? Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you will enjoy it and treasure it even more. God BlessAmerica!
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[Conan The Librarian]

Dumb question, but where are patriotic songs sung today? The only common thing I can think of is Star Spangled Banner at ball games. Somehow the commercial connection there gives it a questionable sincerity. Last time I heard God Bless America was in 6th grade in 1969, where we would sing songs at assemblies called "sings". Are kids even allowed to sing songs in school anymore?
 
I know there is a small handful of entertainers who perform at events like NRA conventions who tend to have a signature song that's a modern patriotic song.
 

[Casull]

For the most part, the only place you'll find patriotic songs today is country music.

[DDZ]

Dumb question, but where are patriotic songs sung today?

The church I belong to sings America the beautiful, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and God Bless America occasionally. We sang all three on the Sunday before the Forth of July. Great Songs!

[Conan The Librarian]

Good to know. Thanks! It must be a regional thing because I've never heard them here.

[JustaShooter]

Dumb question, but where are patriotic songs sung today?

The church I belong to sings America the beautiful, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and God Bless America occasionally. We sang all three on the Sunday before the Forth of July. Great Songs!

We also sing patriotic songs in our church at times, especially around Independence Day, Veterans Day, Memorial day, etc., and sometimes the song leader just feels like it! 

Just a Shooter

[rockbilly]

Guess I’m lucky in that respect, I live in a town with three Christian Colleges, a Military Base very active VFW Post and “Tops in Blue” is a regular at the local civic center, and there are likely more Churches here than any other community its size in America. We get a steady diet of Patriotic Music/Events.

[Sourdough]

About three years ago, at a local High School Hocky game in North Pole.  The young girl that sings the National Anthem was sick and unable to attend that night.  This little 13 year old girl did a great job, and was sorely missed that night.  Some people talked of not having the National Anthem that night, most of us parents said NO!  I usually fill in announcing scores, and penalties, and other things happening with the game.  So I'm used to talking to the crowd.  I took the mich and walked out onto the ice.  I announced that our singer was not available that night so I was going to lead everyone in singing the Star Spangled Banner.  I also added I wanted everyone to join in, and since I could not sing well they needed to sing loud to cover me up.  I started singing and everyone in the stands joined in.

Later that night, after that game and before the next, I got on the ice and mentioned one of the kids that was not there that night.  We had been notified that day, his father had been killed in Iraq.  I asked for a moment of silence and prayer in his memory.  Everyone bowed their heads, and I'm sure gave a short prayer.  At the end as I was walking off the ice, one young woman up in the stands, started singing "God Bless America".  I stopped and joined in with her.  Everyone in the building stopped what they were doing.  The concessions stand stopped, the coaches giving a pep talk to the next teams to play stopped.  Everyone in the building turned to the flag hanging over the ice and joined in singing "God Bless America".  That was a touching moment.

North Pole is a Military Community.  We sit between Eielson AFB, nine miles to the South.   Fort Wainwright, twelve miles North of us.  Almost everyone is Military, Military Dependents, Retired Military and dependents, or employees of the bases.  The owners and employees of most businesses in the area fall in that same catagory.

Rockbilly:  One night last year my son and his buddies drove around North Pole and counted 37 Churches in the North Pole area.  North Pole has 2,200 people, not sure of the population in the surrounding area between the bases.