AMERICA'S NEW SONG HIT

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 72, 8 November 1940, Page 9

AMERICA'S NEW SONG HIT

What Irving Berlin Wrote In 1918

the U.S.A. during the past two years, but nothing that Tin Pan Alley has ground out has had anything like the popularity of a song which Irving Berlin first wrote for Armistice Day, 1918. It is called " God Bless America," and borne on the wings of Continent-wide sentiment it is showing signs of displacing "The StarSpangled Banner" as America’s national anthem. Berlin, who served in the U.S. Army during the last war, forgot about. " God Bless America" almost as soon as he wrote it, and never thought of publishing it. Nor, for that matter, was the post-war American public very enthusiastic about patriotic songs. Then, in 1939, world war again made America conscious of her position, and patriotic sentiment again ran high. Berlin revised and published his old song, and overnight it swept through the country. Sales of "God Bless America" have exceeded those of any recent popular tune, but Berlin is determined not to make money out of it and he turns over all royalties to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America. To safeguard the national character of the song, Berlin has also placed severe restrictions on its public performance, and broadcasting stations are not allowed to play it except by special permission. Broadcasters, naturally, have protested, and one went so far as to deny Berlin’s right to dispose of his song, which by now "is the nation’s own, just as Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech is the intellectual property of the American people." S = hits have come and gone in

Here are the words of "God Bless America," reproduced by special permission of the music publishers, Allen and Co. (Melbourne).: While the storm clouds gather Far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance To a land that’s free; Let us all be grateful For a land so fair, As we raise our voices In a solemn prayer. God bless America, Land that I love, Stand beside her and guide her Through the night with a light from above; From the mountains to the prairies, To the oceans white with foam, God bless America My home sweet home.