Examine individual changes

'[[Image:01 America.png|thumb|300px|Sheet music version<ref>Public domain, taken from [http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/America_%28My_country_%27tis_of_thee%29_%28Anonymous%29 here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105100721/http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/America_(My_Country_%27Tis_of_Thee)_(Anonymous) |date=2009-11-05 }}</ref>]] "'''My Country, 'Tis of Thee'''", also known as "'''America'''", is an [[United States|American]] patriotic song, whose lyrics were written by [[Samuel Francis Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/art-music-and-film/resources/my-country-%E2%80%99tis-thee|title= My Country, 'Tis of Thee|author= <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date= |website= The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History|publisher= |accessdate= December 6, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141207203448/http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/art-music-and-film/resources/my-country-%E2%80%99tis-thee|archive-date= 2014-12-07|dead-url= yes|df= }}</ref> The melody used is the same as that of the national anthem of the United Kingdom, "[[God Save the Queen]]", arranged by [[Thomas Arne]]. The song served as one of the ''[[de facto]]'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like "[[Hail, Columbia]]") before the adoption of "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" as the official U.S. national anthem in 1931.<ref>{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Lois Leo |authorlink=Louis Leo Snyder |title=Encyclopedia of Nationalism |publisher=Paragon House |year=1990 |page=13 |isbn=1-55778-167-2}}</ref> {{listen |filename=My_Country_'Tis_Of_Thee.ogg |title="My Country, 'Tis of Thee" |description=Piano and violin arrangement of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" |filetype=[[Ogg]]}} ==History== [[Samuel Francis Smith]] wrote the lyrics to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in 1831,<ref name=Oxford>{{Cite book|editor-last=Garraty |editor-first=John A. |editor-last2=Carnes |editor-first2=Mark C. |lastauthoramp=y |title=American National Biography| volume =20|location= New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|year= 1999|page= 281}}</ref> while he was a student at the [[Andover Theological Seminary]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts]]. His friend [[Lowell Mason]] had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in [[Muzio Clementi]]'s Symphony No. 3 (also called 'The Great National' and contains the melody of '''[[God Save the Queen]]''<nowiki/>' as a tribute to Clementi's adopted country) caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody, completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. Smith gave Mason the lyrics he had written and the song was first performed in public on July 4, 1831,<ref name=Oxford /> at a children's [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] celebration at [[Park Street Church]] in Boston. First publication of "America" was in 1832.<ref name=Oxford /> ==Lyrics== ; 1 : My country, 'tis of thee, : Sweet land of [[liberty]], : Of thee I sing; : Land where my fathers died, : Land of the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|pilgrims]]' pride, : From ev'ry mountainside : Let [[freedom]] ring! ; 2 : 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 thrills, : Like that above. ; 3 : 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. ; 4 :Our fathers' 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. ''Additional verse to celebrate [[George Washington's legacy|Washington's Centennial]]:''<ref>{{cite book | last =Andrews | first =E. Benjamin | authorlink =Elisha Benjamin Andrews | title =History of the United States | publisher =Charles Scribner's Sons | year =1912 | location =New York }}</ref> ; 5 : Our joyful hearts today, : Their grateful tribute pay, : Happy and free, : After our toils and fears, : After our blood and tears, : Strong with our hundred years, : O God, to Thee. ''Additional verses by [[Henry van Dyke]]'': ;6 : We love thine inland seas, : Thy groves and giant trees, : Thy rolling plains; : Thy rivers' mighty sweep, : Thy mystic canyons deep, : Thy mountains wild and steep,-- : All thy domains. ;7 : Thy silver Eastern strands, : Thy Golden Gate that stands : Fronting the West; : Thy flowery Southland fair, : Thy North's sweet, crystal air: : O Land beyond compare, : We love thee best! ''Additional [[Abolitionist]] verses by A. G. Duncan, 1843'':<ref> Jarius Lincoln, [ed.] ''Antislavery Melodies: for The Friends of Freedom.'' Prepared for the Hingham Antislavery Society. Words by A. G. Duncan. (Hingham, [Mass.]: Elijah B. Gill, 1843), Hymn 17 6s & 4s (Tune – "America") pp. 28–29.<br />Some of these verses can be heard in the [[Arizona State University]] recording of the Antislavery Ensemble.</ref> ;8 :My country, 'tis of thee, :Stronghold of slavery, of thee I sing; :Land where my fathers died, :Where men man’s rights deride, :From every mountainside thy deeds shall ring! ;9 :My native country, thee, :Where all men are born free, if white’s their skin; :I love thy hills and dales, :Thy mounts and pleasant vales; :But hate thy negro sales, as foulest sin. ;10 :Let wailing swell the breeze, :And ring from all the trees the black man’s wrong; :Let every tongue awake; :Let bond and free partake; :Let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong. ;11 :Our father’s God! to thee, :Author of Liberty, to thee we sing; :Soon may our land be bright, :With holy freedom’s right, :Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King. ;12 :It comes, the joyful day, :When tyranny’s proud sway, stern as the grave, :Shall to the ground be hurl’d, :And freedom’s flag, unfurl’d, :Shall wave throughout the world, O’er every slave. ;13 :Trump of glad jubilee! :Echo o’er land and sea freedom for all. :Let the glad tidings fly, :And every tribe reply, :“Glory to God on high,” at Slavery’s fall. ==Notable performances== [[Image:Aretha Franklin on January 20, 2009.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Aretha Franklin]] at the [[first inauguration of Barack Obama]]]] * [[Marian Anderson]] performed the song at the [[Lincoln Memorial]] on [[Easter]] Sunday, April 9, 1939. * [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] recited the first verse of the song toward the end of his famous "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech at the [[Lincoln Memorial]] during the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] on August 28, 1963.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hansen|first=Drew D. |year=2003|title=The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation|location= New York, NY|publisher= Harper Collins|page= 83}}</ref> *[[Cary Grant]] and [[Jim Hutton]] sang the first verse in the 1966 film ''[[Walk, Don't Run]]'', while simultaneously Grant and [[Samantha Eggar]] sang "God Save the Queen". *[[Crosby, Stills & Nash]] performed the song on the first episode of ''[[The Tonight Show with Jay Leno]]'' to air after the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web | last = Keveney | first = Bill | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Audience identifies with low-key Leno | work = | publisher = USA Today | date = September 19, 2001 | url = https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/2001-09-20-leno.htm | doi = | accessdate = July 3, 2009}}</ref> * On January 20, 2009, [[Aretha Franklin]] sang the song at the [[first inauguration of Barack Obama]]. * On January 21, 2013, [[Kelly Clarkson]] sang the song at the [[second inauguration of Barack Obama]]. *The Doors used a guitar riff of the song at the beginning of their song "[[L.A. Woman (song)|L.A. Woman]]" on the 40th anniversary editions of ''[[L.A. Woman]]'' in 2001 and on ''[[The Very Best of The Doors (2007 album)|The Very Best of The Doors]]'' 2007 re-release. * [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] and [[Steven Klein (photographer)|Steven Klein]] sing some verses of the song in their Secret Project video.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artforfreedom.com/|title=Art For Freedom|author=Art For Freedom|work=Art For Freedom|access-date=2013-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907023615/http://artforfreedom.com/|archive-date=2013-09-07|dead-url=yes|df=}}</ref> *[http://www.berggrenfolk.com/ Dan Berggren] updated lyrics in 2004, slanted towards the environment and freedom. It appears as "From Every Mountain Side" on the 2006 Sleeping Giant Records album ''Fresh Territory''.<ref>{{cite web |website= soundcloud.com |url= https://soundcloud.com/berggrenfolk/from-every-mountain-side#t=0:00 |title= From Every Mountainside |author= Dan Berggren |date= 2004 }}</ref> *[[Alec Benjamin]] sings the first two lines of the song in his song titled "1994". *It was played at Senator [[John McCain]]'s funeral service at the [[Washington National Cathedral]] on Sep 1, 2018. <ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/embed/p06k21fh/45382485</iframe></ref> ==See also== <!-- Please respect alphabetical order --> Other anthems set to the same music: *"[[God Save the Queen]]" *"[[Heil dir im Siegerkranz]]" *"[[Kongesangen]]" *"[[Oben am jungen Rhein]]" *"[[The Prayer of Russians]]" *"[[Rufst du, mein Vaterland]]" And variations: *''[[Variations on "America"]]'' ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Ace|title= Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs |publisher=HarperResource|year= 2003|ISBN= 0060513047}} *{{cite book|last=Music|first=David M.|first2=Paul A.|last2=Richardson|title=I Will Sing the Wondrous Story: A History of Baptist Hymnody in North America|location=Macon, Georgia|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=2008|ISBN=0865549486}} ==External links== {{Wikisource|America (Smith)}} * [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000012/default.html Page about the song at the Library of Congress, with scans, etc.] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090130035202/http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/America_%28My_Country_%27Tis_of_Thee%29 Public Domain version of the sheet music in multiple formats for viewing, printing, editing, etc.] – (from the [[Choral Public Domain Library]]) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040604085933/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/91.1/br_55.html Review of a book about the song from the ''Journal of American History''] * [http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/c/t/mctisoft.htm CyberHymnal] – contains history, lyrics, and infinitely-looping MIDI music. * {{Cite NIE|wstitle=America (hymn)|short=x|display=America. The American national hymn}} {{List of official United States national symbols}} [[Category:1831 songs]] [[Category:American patriotic songs]] [[Category:Historical national anthems]] [[Category:North American anthems]] [[Category:National anthem compositions in G major]]'