Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies.................... I believe there just might be a message to hear

America The Beautiful

Katharine Lee Bates wrote the original version in 1893. She wrote the 2nd version in 1904. Her final version was written in 1913.

Here is a note from Katharine Lee Bates:

"One day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to 14,000-foot Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave the wagon and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse."
America the Beautiful - 1913
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America ! America !
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

And if I never hear "God Bless America" again, it'll be too soon. GWB and his Nahn Wun Wun ultra-patriotism completely ruined that song. It's worse than "Midnight Train to Georgia" was when it was at its peak in heavy rotation on the radio....!

been chosen as our national anthem over the "Star Spangled Banner". I agree with him wholeheartedly.

It's easier song to sing and I think it captures what was the essence of the country in a much better way.

It was lovely to hear it sung yesterday at Lady Bird Johnson's memorial service. Very fitting.

a "We Can Kick Your Ass to The Tune of A Drinking Song We Stole From Our Former Masters" song, too!

"America the Beautiful" is a pretty song, and a few of the verses always choke me up when I hear them, but nothing beats "The Star-Spangled Banner" for poignancy. And the crescendo at the end is simply thrilling. Yes, AtB is easier to sing for the untrained, but there is NOTHING like hearing a really fine voice sing "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Plus, we have enough God officially attached to the nation without tossing him into our national anthem.

So the citizenry is cut off from their national tune. Most don't know all the words, either. It's simply an odd disconnect, that.

I suppose it's a case of God in some songs, and war in others.

The French, Germans, Italians and Japanese have good tunes. Brits and Canadians, too. Easy to sing. The old Iranian national anthem was a peppy number, too--the new one sounds like a new intro to Masterpiece Theater--not the same punch at all.

Frankly, it's not the most pressing item on my agenda, but I always thought the SSB was an odd choice.


A website I enjoy is the National Anthems one: http://www.national-anthems.net/

Without getting too cheesy, it kind of touches me that the national anthem of an imperfect nation is usually sung imperfectly.

It's true - and puzzling - that many people don't know the words the "The Star-Spangled Banner", although I doubt that would improve by replacing it with "America the Beautiful", which has a lot more verses, after all. As far as God vs. War, well, AtB has some war-related lines as well. And the country DID start with a revolution: I like the nod to violent foundation of our country, reminding us that freedom DID have a cost (in a REAL way, not in a cheap political talking-point way).

I'm not familiar with any other national anthems except for Canada and Scotland (both of which I actually enjoy more than tSSB). Thanks for the link: I'll definitely be checking it out.

I'd certainly hope that we not be forced to sing the ENTIRE ATB if we did switch, though!!

We actually have more verses to the SSB, as well, though, that are rarely sung (thank heavens!!!). There's an dash of God in those subsequent verses, too.

Here they are, each more torturous than the last:

....On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

See, terror and "The Good Lord" have been used as motivating tactics for a long, long, time!!! You even see that "Just Cause" phrase up in there, too...!

...And mercy more than life."

We have a country to be proud of and one to defend.

We don't have much time left.

We the people, we hurt the people of this country. We don't have an anthem, we don't have a song. We the people of this country we call america, the US of A, the republic, we have never done anything right.

We have much to own up for. I hope in my lifetime we get it right.

that these verses existed.

WOW!!!

THIS is the "America"... The philosophy of living that I can support, and encourage.

My blood line goes back to the 1600's. This is the kind of spirit I'd like to believe they dreamed of. One that is worth working towards, and championing.

Thank you so much for this encouraging post.

:hi:

blu

When Americans like this song better than "God Bless America" I'll start to think we're getting well. But I'm not holding my breath. "America the Beautiful" compared to "God Bless America" is like comparing prime filet mignon to dog food ... from China.

Pretty much just says it all. And crown thy good with brotherhood. .......

What a nation we could be.