Peter H. Johnson, Jr., 32°
1524 Smith Drive, Holbrook, Arizona 86025-1951

Bro. Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" has had a checkered career.

Reprinted from Knight Templar Vol. XLVII, No. 12 (December 2002)

Photo: Brother Irving Berlin, 32°, 1888-1989

"I couldn't visualize soldiers marching to it. So I laid it aside and tried some other things." With this thought in mind, America's great songsmith, Bro. Irving Berlin, 32°, N.M.J. (New Jersey, 1910), placed his latest musical effort, "God Bless America," in his trunk of discarded songs. It was 1917, the first year of American involvement in World War I, and the song was deemed too solemn for inclusion in Berlin's upbeat war show, Yip! Yip! Yaphank. Berlin had hit it big just six years earlier with his international success, "Alexander's Ragtime Band."

Berlin's real name was Israel Baline, and he was born on May 11, 1888; his family was Jewish and resided in Tolochin, Byelorussia, in Siberia. To avoid the persecution of the Czar, they immigrated to the United States via New York in 1893. The family lived in the slums on New York's East Side. By the time he was 13, "Izzy's" father had passed away, and Israel was earning money as a singing waiter. He also picked up the piano and was soon playing in saloons and "dives." Approaching adulthood, Israel Anglicized his name to the now familiar "Irving Berlin."

Young Irving had almost no education or training in music. His singing voice was true, but high and a bit scratchy. His piano playing was extremely crude. He played mostly on the black keys pitching every song in the key of F sharp major. As his career advanced, Berlin obtained a transposing piano allowing him to shift the keys and play in different tonalities with the same fingerings. This piano is now in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Berlin never learned to read or write music and used a musical secretary for over 60 years. Despite these unorthodox methods, he wrote over 1,500 songs including "White Christmas," "Easter Parade," and "Putting on the Ritz," and 18 musicals. Unlike many composers with advanced training, Berlin also was his own lyricist.

By 1938, war was again raging in Europe, and Berlin was again contemplating a patriotic song. He had several ideas but was not pleased with any of them. In frustration he asked his secretary to search the files for "God Bless America," now in storage for 21 years. The manuscript was untitled and difficult to locate.

Once it was found, Berlin realized, at first glance, that the lyrics were dated and needed revision. Original manuscripts transcribed by Berlin's musical secretary, Helmy Kresa, indicate that the changes were made between October 31 and November 2. One line, "stand beside her and guide her, for the right and a light from above," was changed to "stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above." Another line toward the end of the song read: "make her victorious on land and foam, God Bless America, my home sweet home" was rewritten as "from the mountains to the prairies to the ocean white with foam, God Bless America, my home sweet home." Slight changes were also made in the melody and rhythm. Kate Smith, the popular radio singer, was selected to premier the song on her Armistice Day program on November 1, 1938. Smith's lovely natural voice and unpretentious manner were a perfect complement to Berlin's patriotic yet peaceful song.

The appeal of the song was instant and electrifying. The sheet music of "God Bless America," published by Berlin's own company, was soon in short supply. Some considered the song another National Anthem. When the song was played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on Memorial Day of 1939, the crowd stood as if for the "Star Spangled Banner," and gentlemen removed their hats. Kate Smith continued to sing "God Bless America" at the New York World's Fair.

Berlin was embarrassed to be drawing royalties on his unexpected patriotic hit. In response, he set up a trust fund to distribute all earnings of "God Bless America" to an appropriate organization. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Gene Tunney, and Herbert Swope were selected to administer the fund. They were of diverse religious backgrounds; Roosevelt was Protestant, Tunney was Roman Catholic, and Swope was Jewish. It was first proposed that all royalties would go to the Red Cross, but on Swope's recommendation, the proceeds were assigned to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.

Looking back at a distance of 60 years, it is hard to imagine there were critics of "God Bless America." Dr. Franklin Romig, pastor of the West End Collegiate Reformed Church in New York, denounced "God Bless America" as "doggerel," "excessively emotional," and a "substitute for religion." There was also an undertow of prejudice against Berlin's patriotism because he was a Jew born outside the United States. Berlin's friend Swope responded in the New York Times by stating that Berlin's background only enhanced the message of the song and that his family had come to America seeking "refuge and hope."

Irving Berlin's patriotism during World War II was prodigious. His wartime show This Is the Army, toured almost all theatres of the war. Berlin, dressed in his World War I "doughboy" uniform singing "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up in the Morning" in his high tenor, was a "show stopper." It is estimated that 2,500,000 service men and women saw this morale-boasting production. The film version of This Is the Army, starring Ronald Reagan and George Murphy, with appearances by Berlin and Kate Smith, was also a great success, raising over $9,500,000 for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. President Truman awarded Berlin the Medal of Merit for his outstanding support of the war effort. Berlin would later also receive awards from Presidents Eisenhower, Ford, and Reagan.

Berlin's last musical, Mr. President, premiered in 1962 and was a colossal failure. Irving Berlin's last public appearance was in 1968 on television in the Ed Sullivan Show on his 80th birthday. Berlin closed the show by singing "God Bless America" in his high raspy voice to a stage lined with Boy and Girl Scouts. It brought the house down!

Berlin's comeback was short lived. He was now considered a relic of another era. "God Bless America" also did not fit the cynical mood of the Viet Nam era.

Berlin lived in seclusion for over two more decades with his wife, Ellin, at their Beekman Place mansion. He was said to be bitter and kept a constant watch on his vast royalties and fortune. He could have made a lot more money, but he would not allow his songs to be used in TV commercials, and at age 98 he turned down Steven Spielberg for the use of a song.

CBS broadcast a three-hour program in 1988 honoring Berlin's 100th Birthday. The program featured Marilyn Horne leading all assembled in "God Bless America" with the aisles filled with uniformed Boy and Girl Scouts.

Berlin refused to acknowledge the tribute and apparently did not even watch it on television. Irving Berlin died at his home on September 22, 1989, at age 101. President George H. W. Bush heard the news at a luncheon in Boston and led the guests in an impromptu chorus of "God Bless America."

After the tragic terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon, America instinctively turned to Berlin's old song. Its sentiment again rings true. "God Bless America" can now be seen as a patriotic slogan in home windows, storefronts, and even automobiles. The song is performed as a rallying cry at sporting events, memorials, concerts, and ceremonies. In old age, the reclusive composer finally revealed his thoughts concerning his masterpiece: "I tried to express my feelings in song in 'God Bless America,' a song which is not alone a song but an expression of my gratitude to the country that inspired it."

A lifelong Mason, Brother Berlin was a member of the Fraternity for 79 years, perhaps longer than any other show business personality. In 1910, he received his first three Degrees in New York City's Munn Lodge and became a Life Member the same year. Initiated into the Shrine at Mecca Shrine Temple on January 30, 1911, he became a Life Member in 1935, the same year he became a Scottish Rite Mason in New Jersey. Around 1912, in collaboration with E. Ray Goetz, Berlin wrote one song with a Masonic connotation, "Hiram's Band."

Sources: Most of the information concerning "God Bless America" was found in As Thousands Cheer-The Life of Irving Berlin by Laurence Bergreen, (Penguin Books, 1990). Other general information was found in several Internet articles. Masonic information was taken from 10,000 Famous Freemasons by William R. Denslow (Missouri Lodge of Research, 1957).

Peter H. Johnson, Jr. is the Junior Past Grand Commander of the Knights Templar of Arizona. He served as W.M. of Chalcedony Lodge No. 6, Holbrook, Ariz.(1990 and 1996), and belongs to the York Rite Bodies in Winslow, Ariz., and the Scottish Rite Bodies in Tucson. Employed as a public school music teacher for 31 years, he enjoys researching Masonic musicians and playing the saxophone with the Northland Pioneer College Band and the Windjammers Unlimited Circus Concert Band. Photo: Silver Fox Studio, Flagstaff, Arizona