God Bess America
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 revue 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..."[1], as well as
"Stand beside her and guide her, to the right with the light from above."
Music critic Jody Rosen comments that a 1906 Jewish dialect novelty song, "When
Mose With His Nose Leads the Band," contains a six-note fragment that is
"instantly recognizable as the opening strains of 'God Bless America.'" He
interprets this as an example of Berlin's "habit of interpolating bits of
half-remembered songs into his own numbers." [2] Berlin, born Israel Baline, had
himself written several Jewish-themed novelty tunes.
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. Berlin made some minor
changes; by this time, "to the right" might have been considered a call for
fascism or, at the very least, political conservatism, so he substituted
"through the night." He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard:
"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."
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. 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.