"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song.
The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates, and the music was composed by church organist
and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.
Bates originally wrote the words as a poem, Pikes Peak, first published in the Fourth
of July edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895.
At that time, the poem was titled America for publication.
Ward had originally written the music, Materna, for the hymn O Mother dear, Jerusalem in 1882,
though it was not first published until 1892.
Ward's music combined with the Bates poem was first published in 1910 and titled America
the Beautiful.
The song is one of the most popular of the many American patriotic songs.
History
In 1893, at the age of thirty-six, Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College,
had taken a train trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to teach a short summer school session
at Colorado College.
Several of the sights on her trip inspired her, and they found their way into her poem,
including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the "White City" with its promise
of the future contained within its alabaster buildings; the wheat fields of America's heartland
Kansas, through which her train was riding on July 16; and the majestic view of the Great
Plains from high atop Zebulon's Pikes Peak.
On the pinnacle of that mountain, the words of the poem started to come to her, and she
wrote them down upon returning to her hotel room at the original Antlers Hotel.
The poem was initially published two years later in The Congregationalist, to commemorate
the Fourth of July.
It quickly caught the public's fancy.
Amended versions were published in 1904 and 1913.
Several existing pieces of music were adapted to the poem.
A hymn tune composed by Samuel A. Ward was generally considered the best music as early
as 1910 and is still the popular tune today.
Just as Bates had been inspired to write her poem, Ward too was inspired to compose his
tune.
The tune came to him while he was on a ferryboat trip from Coney Island back to his home in
New York City, after a leisurely summer day in 1882, and he immediately wrote it down.
He was so anxious to capture the tune in his head, he asked fellow passenger friend Harry
Martin for his shirt cuff to write the tune on.
He composed the tune for the old hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem", retitling the work "Materna".
Ward's music combined with Bates' poem were first published together in 1910 and titled,
America the Beautiful.
Ward died in 1903, not knowing the national stature his music would attain, as the music
was only first applied to the song in 1904.
Bates was more fortunate, as the song's popularity was well established by the time of her death
in 1929.
At various times in the more than 100 years that have elapsed since the song was written,
particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give "America the
Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn, or as a national anthem equal to, or
in place of, "The Star-Spangled Banner", but so far this has not succeeded.
Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to
sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as
easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Some prefer "America the Beautiful" over "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to the latter's
war-oriented imagery.
Others prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the same reason.
While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the
national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number
of Americans.
The melody of this song was the school song of the former University of Shanghai, which
closed in 1952.
Currently, it is used by Shanghai Alumni Primary School in Hong Kong and Hujiang High School
in Taiwan as the melody of their school song.
At Colorado College, where Bates was teaching at the time of writing it, "America the Beautiful"
is commonly sung at events such as convocations, commencement, and baccalaureate, and has become
somewhat of a second anthem for the school.
When Richard Nixon visited China in 1972, this song was played as the welcome music.
This song was used as the background music of the television broadcast of the Tiangong-1
launch.
The song is often included in songbooks in a wide variety of religious congregations
in the United States.
Lyrics
Popular versions In 1976, while the United States celebrated
its bicentennial, a soulful version popularized by Ray Charles peaked at number 98 on the
US R&B Charts, and is included on the soundtrack for the movie The Sandlot.
Three different renditions of the song have entered the Hot Country Songs charts.
The first was by Charlie Rich, which went to number 22 in 1976.
A second, by Mickey Newbury, peaked at number 82 in 1980.
An all-star version of "America the Beautiful" performed by country singers Trace Adkins,
Sherrié Austin, Billy Dean, Vince Gill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Toby Keith, Brenda Lee, Lonestar,
Lyle Lovett, Lila McCann, Lorrie Morgan, Jamie O'Neal, The Oak Ridge Boys, Collin Raye, Kenny
Rogers, Keith Urban and Phil Vassar reached number 58 in July 2001.
The song re-entered the chart following the September 11 attacks.
Popularity of the song increased greatly following the September 11 attacks; at some sporting
events it was sung in addition to the traditional singing of the national anthem.
During the first taping of the Late Show with David Letterman following the attacks, CBS
newsman Dan Rather cried briefly as he quoted the fourth verse.
Idioms "From sea to shining sea", originally used
in the charters of some of the English Colonies in North America, is an American idiom meaning
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
Many songs have used this term, including the American patriotic songs "America, the
Beautiful" and "God Bless the USA".
In addition to these, it is also featured in Schoolhouse Rock's "Elbow Room".
A term similar to this is the Canadian motto A Mari Usque Ad Mare.
"Purple mountain majesties" refers to the shade of the Rocky Mountains, which Bates
looked at while writing the poem.
Books Lynn Sherr's 2001 book America the Beautiful
discusses the origins of the song and the backgrounds of its authors in depth.
The book points out that the poem has the same meter as that of "Auld Lang Syne"; the
songs can be sung interchangeably.
Additionally, Sherr points out that this was the original third verse written by Bates:
America!
God shed His grace on thee, 'Til selfish gain no longer stain,
The banner of the free.
This song is used in Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game.
References
Further Reading Collins, Ace.
Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs.
HarperResource, 2003.
ISBN 0060513047 External links
MP3 and RealAudio recordings available at the United States Library of Congress
Free sheet music of America the Beautiful from Cantorion.org
Words, sheet music & MIDI file at the Cyber Hymnal
America the Beautiful Park in Colorado Springs named for Katharine Lee Bates' words.
Archival collection of America the Beautiful lantern slides from the 1930s.
Another free sheet music David Firestone - When Romney’s Reach Exceeds
His Grasp - Mitt Romney quotes the song