[78-L] The debut broadcast of God Bless America

[David Lewis]

Dr. B. wrote:

Note two VERY important changes to the lyrics.  Are they in the sheet 
music?  Are they in other recordings including some of Kate's 
broadcasts?  In the introduction verse -- which she didn't sing on the 
record and most broadcasts -- there is the line "Let us all be grateful 
that we're far from there", which is referring to Europe 1938, of 
course.  The line is usually heard as "Let us all be grateful for a land 
so fair".  This is very significant.  Is there any documentation as to 
objections to this line?
>>>>

"God Bless America" was originally composed around 1916-early 1917, but one of Berlin's colleagues
suggested that the market was flooded with patriotic songs of various kinds, and in this time period, 
the colleague would have been right. Berlin packed the tune away in a large steamer trunk he used 
to store projects for future development or reuse; the song that became "Blue Skies" spent some 
years in that filing system as well. He didn't retrieve "God Bless America" for 20 years.

The line "Let us all be grateful that we're far from there" is probably a leftover from the earlier form
of the song, and meant as a tip of the hat to Wilson's anti-intervention policies, which would have been
meaningless after April 1917.   

Uncle Dave Lewis
uncledavelewis at hotmail.com