about God Bless America

One of my favorite parts of Independence Day is singing patriotic songs. Classics like “The Star Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful,” and even newer ones like Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America” help me reflect on what it means to be a citizen of this great nation. But things are complicated this year. In addition to a pandemic, protesters across the country are taking to the streets, demanding reform, justice, asking to be heard. Right now, I feel like we need more of a prayer and less of an anthem.

A friend recently shared the story behind a patriotic standard that captures the simultaneous hope and sadness that many Americans feel. Let me share with you some new insights into the old classic, Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” a song that has carried the dreams of millions.

Berlin arrived at Ellis Island with his family in 1893 at the age of 5. His sole childhood memory of Russia was of his house being burned to the ground in an act of anti-Semitic hatred. The family was so poor that he left home at 14 and scrounged a living singing and playing piano. By the time he joined the army during World War I, he was writing musical revues to perform for his fellow soldiers. In 1918 he wrote “God Bless America,” but felt it was too sincere for the comedy show he was putting together.

Right now, I feel like we need more of a prayer and less of an anthem.

Twenty years later, the rise of Adolph Hitler in Europe must have been sobering for Berlin, who knew firsthand what it meant to be targeted simply for being Jewish. With America in the Great Depression and on the verge of war, Berlin felt the time was right to share a message of peace and hope. For him, it was more prayer than song, as his mother would repeat the title over and over during his childhood, a mantra of both gratitude and supplication to God that their new country would shelter them. “Please God, bless America,” one can almost hear her plea.

But the song was not truly launched until sung by Kate Smith, a radio star with a voice that people still talk about. In 1940 she approached Berlin, asking for something that would boost morale, and he knew his song had found its purpose. Between Smith’s voice and Berlin’s optimistic lyrics, the song became a salve to a country on edge and a boon to thousands of youth, as the pair decided to donate all royalties from the song to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America (millions of dollars). If you watch the video, you can sense that it was more than a song: a prayer, a battle cry, a hymn, an anthem and a victory call, all rolled into one.

And yet, even as millions embraced the song, which was conceived as a prayer of hope and gratitude to his adopted country, there was backlash. Because he was a Jew and an immigrant, critics said he did not have a right to celebrate America. Others criticized it for being too optimistic and glossing over the country’s flaws. Woody Guthrie was so irritated by the song that he wrote an alternative anthem called “God Bless America, For Me,” which was later renamed “This Land is Your Land.” Maybe you’ve heard it.

But part of the beauty of the song is its adaptability. The song has been claimed by an array of causes. In the 1940s and ’50s, striking garment and subway workers sang “God Bless America” as part of their demonstrations. Students protesting racial segregation in the 1960s sang it. It’s been used for political causes on the left and right, representing religious and cultural tolerance. After 9/11 it was associated as a resilient response to terrorist attacks; it’s been sung by a Canadian (Celine Dionne) and Marc Anthony. For years, it was a staple of the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers, until it was discovered that Kate Smith had recorded songs with racist lyrics in the 1930s.

It is a simple song, traditionally just 10 lines long. But it captures what we want America to be, that if God blesses our country, it will be a place of refuge, promise and hope. It will be home. This year as we approach America’s birthday, there will be celebrations and fireworks, but there will also be self-examination and a demand for accountability. All across the country — from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam — people are praying that God will bless America, and make her a home, sweet home, for all her children.

(Related: The Yankees have stopped playing Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’ after discovering potentially racist song lyrics)

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Heather Sundahl is a writer and media specialist at the Utah Women & Leadership Project, an editor for BYU ARTS Partnership and a historian for Exponent II.