**Okay I just had to update this blog post because I was getting the song America (My Country Tis of Thee) confused with America the Beautiful written by Katharine Lee Bates.
Yesterday I was watching Barack Obama and Joseph Biden being sworn in for a second term. I did not watch everything from start to finish. I started watching it online from just before both men were sworn in up to Beyonce singing the Nation Anthem. One of the most moving moments for me was when Kelly Clarkson sang the song America. Some people call it My Country Tis of Thee. From what I can find online it looks like the original name was simply America, and that to me says it all.
The lyrics was written by Samuel Francis Smith and he titled the song "America". Smith was born on October 21, 1808 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College (now Harvard University) in 1829. He became a Baptist minster, journalist and author. Samuel Smith was also a professor at Waterville College in Maine.
Samuel Francis Smith
Samuel Francis Smith left us on November 16, 1895 and his song "America" was performed at his funeral.
My country tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our father's God to, Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
The Original poem by Katharine Lee Bates - America the Beautiful
- O beautiful for halcyon skies,
- For amber waves of grain,
- For purple mountain majesties
- Above the enameled plain!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee,
- Till souls wax fair as earth and air
- And music-hearted sea!
- O beautiful for pilgrim feet
- Whose stern, impassioned stress
- A thoroughfare for freedom beat
- Across the wilderness!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee
- Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
- By pilgrim foot and knee!
- O beautiful for glory-tale
- Of liberating strife,
- When once or twice, for man's avail,
- Men lavished precious life!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee
- Till selfish gain no longer stain,
- The banner of the free!
- O beautiful for patriot dream
- That sees beyond the years
- Thine alabaster cities gleam
- Undimmed by human tears!
- America! America!
- God shed His grace on thee
- Till nobler men keep once again
- Thy whiter jubilee!
2 comments:
Kelly Clarkson did do a lovely job of singing "My Country Tis of Thee" at yesterday's inauguration.
And "America the Beautiful" is another lovely song. Thank you for sharing the inspiring words with his. Most of us only know the first verse.
OMG!!! Cannot believe that I made that mistake. I always get America, My Country Tis of Thee and The National Anthem mixed up but I LOVE them all....LOL I had better fix this blog post fast before someone calls me an idiot.
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