God Bless America

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"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. It is sometimes considered an unofficial national anthem of the United States.

Berlin originally wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, but decided that it did not fit in a review 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..."

In 1938, with the rise of Hitler, Berlin, who was a Jewish immigrant from Siberia, 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. The song was a hit; there was even a movement to make "God Bless America" the national anthem of the United States. In 1943, Smith's rendition was featured in the patriotic musical This Is the Army along with other Berlin songs. Manuscripts in the Library of Congress reveal the evolution of the song from victory to peace.

Woody Guthrie disliked the song, and wrote "This Land Is Your Land", originally titled "God Blessed America For Me", as a response to "God Bless America".

Later, from 1969 through the early 1970s, Smith's recording of the song before many Philadelphia Flyers contests brought it renewed popularity (as well as an apparent "good luck charm" to the Flyers), long before it became a nationwide sporting event staple. The Flyers even brought Smith in to sing "live" before the final game of Stanley Cup Playoffs in the spring of 1974, and the Flyers won the cup that day.

It was sung by the main characters, to a chilling ironic effect, In Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. Regarding the song in the film, Roger Ebert says in his 1978 review:

"It[the film]ends on a curious note: The singing of "God Bless America." 
I won't tell you how it  arrives at that particular moment...but I do want 
to observe that the lyrics of "God Bless America" have never before seemed 
to me to contain such an infinity of possible meanings, some tragic, some 
unspeakeably sad, some few still defiantly hopeful."

In recent years the song is increasingly sung at sporting events, recitals, and other public events where national anthems are sung, sometimes replacing "The Star-Spangled Banner". The song was frequently the vehicle chosen to express patriotism in the days following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"God Bless America" is similar in format and lyrics to many other contemporary national anthems, and is popular as a "modern" national anthem because of its memorable words and tune, as opposed to the rather complex music and abstract (and war-oriented) lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner". It seems evident from the chorus, and is clear from the full lyrics, that Berlin's song is in the form of a prayer for God's blessing and peace for the nation—"stand beside her and guide her through the night"—not an empty appeal to nationalistic sentiment nor any claim that "God is on our side."

Berlin gave the royalties of the song to the God Bless America Fund for redistribution to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the USA.

The song was by far the most common choice for memorials for the September 11, 2001 attacks. On the evening of September 11, 2001, members of the United States Congress gathered at the steps of the Capitol for a news conference started singing "God Bless America."Link to audio of members of the US Congress singing 'God Bless America, 4:30 pm, September 11, 2001

Shortly afterwards on October 16, Sony Music released a benefit album called "God Bless America", which featured Celine Dion singing the song. The album debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 and became the first charity album to reach the top since USA For Africa's We Are The World in 1985.

Since the attacks, "God Bless America" has commonly been sung during the seventh-inning stretch in Sunday Major League Baseball games, controversially including the Toronto Blue Jays. Interestingly, some claim this serves to benefit the New York Yankees. While Ronan Tynan sings his especially long version of the song, the opposing pitcher is unable to warm up, and some pitchers complain that this affects their rhythm.

At Wrigley Field, during the Vietnam War, the song was often played by the organist as part of his post-game playlist, while the fans slowly filed out.

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