God Bless America

D

dogcatcher

Active member
Quote:Listen to Kate Smith sing “God Bless America”, watch the video which accompanies her singing and ask yourself,

WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET BACK THE PATRIOTISM OF THE 40’S AND 50’S,

WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY!!!


Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that 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 the song
brought a tear or two…

Here are the facts... The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of "GOD BLESS AMERICA". But before you watch it, you should also know the story behind the first public showing of the song.

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 her 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.....ENJOY

Let us pray he still does, and it's still not to late.
 
In college I had a professor for my US History class, he said that over the past 100 years things swing like a pendulem, some times it goes to far and then goes just as far the other way (boy I hope)
But a few years ago i saw Glen Beck do the best explaination that i have ever seen.

Instead of looking at as left or right. Think of it like a football field. One endzone is lawlessness. and the other endzone is government control.
The Republican and Democrat battle (most not all of these parties) are just fighting to pull the ball to the left hash mark vs. the Right hash mark, but both are moving the ball to toward the Government control endzone.
These groups get mad at people like Ted Cruize, Trey Gaudy and Sen Paul, because they try to push the ball back toward lawlessness. They want the minimum amount of Government to keep order.

As for the question at hand, my short answer is the young, at some point will lash out when they realize they are being dupped and things have gone to far. Don't underestimate the youth generation, they can throw a serious tantrum when they realize what is happening.

I also have faith.. I talked to my Grandmother and she said the same despare was around at the end of the Carter Administartion, and look what that brought. The youth is going to get tired of not being able to get a job. they can organize like you can't imagine, and if the Senate goes Republican, Ried won't be able to protect Obama anymore, and they will see him for what he is and what he is doing.
 
Thank you so much for posting the story and the video clip! Wow; I think I have some dust in my eye as well. I'll never listen to the song the same way again. (I always thought it was just a hymn!!)

After reading your post I wanted to know more and Googled it. Apparently Irving Berlin wrote the song during WWI for a show but it was deemed to be too jingoist at the time. Also, I never realized that Berlin was a Russian immigrant. (Learning new things all the time!! :))

Not to hijack this very wonderful thread about God Bless America, but I do want to add to TBone's comment.

Originally Posted By: Tbone-AZI also have faith.. I talked to my Grandmother and she said the same despare was around at the end of the Carter Administartion, and look what that brought. The youth is going to get tired of not being able to get a job. they can organize like you can't imagine, and if the Senate goes Republican, Ried won't be able to protect Obama anymore, and they will see him for what he is and what he is doing.

This appears to already be happening. Intentionally or not, Trey Gaudy and others are resonating with youth who are not yet old enough to vote even, and many who are. Telling my age, but I was part of the 'Reagan Revolution' as some people called it. I was too young to vote in the Carter election and unable to grasp how so people could be suckered-in by him. Even though I was from the south, and from a 'peanut family', I viewed him as weak and ineffective, just from his campaign.

Did you notice how the healthcare website debacle had even the MSM rolling its eyes? With this generation you can mess up a lot of things and it go unnoticed, but mess up a website roll-out and you're forever labeled an idiot. (I just hope it sticks.)


 
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That brought back a lot of memories....I was born several months before the Pearl Harbor attack and grew up with Kate Smith singing that song on the radio and when we got television when I was ten, our local station opened and closed it's programing day (6am-midnight) with her voice on the air with it...You always felt like standing and saluting while she was singing...
 
Originally Posted By: OldTurtleThat brought back a lot of memories....I was born several months before the Pearl Harbor attack and grew up with Kate Smith singing that song on the radio and when we got television when I was ten, our local station opened and closed it's programing day (6am-midnight) with her voice on the air with it...You always felt like standing and saluting while she was singing...

I also remember those days, one of the reasons I posted the info. Maybe it is time for TV stations to start signing off at midnight and playing her singing the song again.
 


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