"GOD BLESS AMERICA"
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I received an email earlier this week that I’d like to share.
Apparently….Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time. He even confided to her that, when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away their tears.
That was in 1940. America was still in an economic depression, Hitler was taking over Europe, and Americans feared they would have to go to war. This was before television, when radio shows were huge and American sat around their radios in the evening listening to “Amos and Andy” and their favorite entertainers. Few entertainers in those years, however, were more lionized than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large — plus size, as we now say — 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 become a star in the age of TV but, with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
She was also patriotic. She had hope for America and faith in her fellow citizens, and wanted to do something to cheer them up. So she went to songwriter Irving Berlin (of “White Christmas” fame) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good about their country. As she described what she wanted, Berlin said he had just the song for her.
He’d written it in 1917 — 22 years prior — but never published it. After giving her the song, Kate began working on it with a studio orchestra. Neither she nor Berlin knew how the song would be received in public but both agreed they would not take any profits from “God Bless America.” All profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America (who incidentally have received millions of dollars in royalties over the years from this song.)
To this day, “God Bless America” stirs our patriotic feelings and pride and with good reason.
The link below takes you to a video that shows Kate Smith coming into that radio studio back in 1940, with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the first time and starts singing. After the first few verses, with her voice in the background, there are scenes from the 1940 movie, “You’re in the Army Now.” At the 4:20 mark of the video, you see a young actor, sitting in an office, reading a paper. It’s no other than Ronald Reagan.
Here’s the entire song as originally sung. Take a few minutes to listen and enjoy. Maybe have a hanky nearby. God bless America!
