Rediscovering Our Greatness
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GOD BLESS AMERICA
“This
video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the
orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very
first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her
voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940
movie, “You’re In The Army Now.” At the 4:20 mark of the video you see
a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper –
it’s Ronald Reagan.
Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and
said when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless
America”on the radio, they all pretended to have “dust in their eyes”
as they wiped away a tear or two… (So, in case you get ‘dust in your
eyes” have some tissues handy. I did)”
from israpundit.
More of this story, via M. Franciois
The time was 1940.
America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was
taking over Europe, and Americans were afraid we'd have to go to war.
It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.
This was the era just before
TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their
radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and
no entertainer of that era was bigger 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 made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice
coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
Kate was also
patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid
of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America, and faith
in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up,
so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also
wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make
Americans feel good again about their country. When she described
what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her.
He went to his files and
found a song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before
- way back in 1917. He gave it to and she worked on it with her studio
orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would
be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any
profits from God Bless America. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts
of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of
dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with
Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an
audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and
starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the
background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're
In The Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young
actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald
Reagan.
To this day, God Bless
America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country.
Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the
spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how
successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those
years of hardship and worry..... and for many generations of Americans
to follow. Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you'll
enjoy it and treasure it even more.
Many people don't know
there's a lead in to the song since it usually starts with "God Bless
America....." So here's the entire song as originally sung.
And pass the ammunition ...
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