Smith’s lyrics invoked the history of America-"Land where my fathers died, / Land of the Pilgrims’ Pride, / From every mountain side / Let freedom ring"-as well as its beauty and sense of itself as a blessed land-"I love thy rocks and rills, / Thy woods and templed hills, / My heart with rapture thrills, / Like that above." "America" soon took on a life of its own, quickly becoming widely known and well loved, and the song served as an unofficial national anthem until the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 1931. The result was what Smith called "America" and what would eventually be better known as "My Country, ’Tis of Thee." The song was first performed on July 4, 1831, by a children’s choir in Boston. Inspired by one of the German songs-"God Bless Our Native Land" (set to the tune of "God Save the King")-Smith set out to write an original patriotic song for America set to the same melody. In 1831, while studying at Andover Theological Seminary, Smith was asked by composer Lowell Mason to translate some German song books. Samuel Francis Smith was a twenty-four-year-old Baptist seminary student in Massachusetts when he wrote the lyrics of "America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee)," the patriotic song that would serve as an unofficial national anthem for nearly one-hundred years.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |