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America: My Country Tis of Thee

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My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain-side
Let Freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.

Arrangement Copyright © 2000 Don Wigton

 

A lonely flute is slowly joined by an acoustic guitar, exalting the Author of America’s freedom. . .a resonate cello accompanies the sound of a piano proclaiming God as our protector.

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Song Story

 This favorite American patriotic hymn was written by the Reverend Samuel Francis Smith, and sung publicly for the first time in Boston in 1832.  Samuel was an American minister and writer.  According to Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology, he was one of the main editors of The Psalmist--"the most creditable and influential of the American Baptist collections.” 

Smith attended Harvard University and Andover Theological Seminary.  He entered the Bap­tist min­is­try in 1832, and the same year became editor of Baptist Missionary Magazine.  He also contributed to the Encyclopedia Americana.  From 1834 to 1842, he pas­tored at Waterville, Maine, and was Pro­fessor of Modern Languages at Waterville College.  In 1842, he moved to Newton, Massachusetts, where he stayed until 1854, when he became editor of the publications of the Baptist Missionary Union.

The secular world best remembers Smith as the lyricist for “My Country ’Tis of Thee,”  though her wrote several other hymns.  He and Oliver Wendell Holmes were classmates at Harvard, and at a reunion for the class of 1829, Holmes wrote:

There’s a nice youngster of excellent pith,
Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith;
But he shouted a song for the brave and the free,
Just read on his medal, “My country,” “of thee.”

 

The tune to this praise hymn was first popular in England as "God Save the King (Queen)" and is now the English national anthem.

 

An interesting circumstance lead to the inclusion of  “My Country Tis of Thee” on the Wigtune patriotic CD.  With all my might I was trying to think of Christian patriotic hymns to add to the project.  But, for some reason, my mind just went blank!  One night in the middle of the night, as I was dreaming, this song came to mind.  But, when I woke up, I completely forgot what the song was.  It was the next day, while I was looking on the Internet for information on “God Bless America” that I stumbled across it on a WEB page.  That night, exited about the revelation, I went home and composed the piece.

 

A lonely flute fills the air with its precious melody as a gentle acoustic guitar subtly filters in.  During the next verse a resonate cello adds a melodic counter melody to the flute solo as a light piano adds depth with its delightful timbre.  During the last verse the cello and flute exchange roles as the piece rolls to a passionate end.  We pray that you will consider the words to this significant offering from American history to realize what a great part God has played in the development of the great democratic experiment.

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 is a subsidiary of Wigtune Company, formed as a service to the body of Christ.   Our vision is to encourage scriptural worship in the Church by offering free praise music and hymns performed in a contemporary manner along with a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions, Bible study groups, Sunday schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training.  The worship study book  lends theological and historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing in conjunction with praise chorus singing. Click on one of the links below to enter into the Wigtune resource that interests you !

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Copyright © 1999 Don Wigton. All rights reserved.

Patriotic Hymns 1 | Patriotic Hymns 2

Christmas Hymns 1 | Christmas Hymns 2 | Christmas Hymns 3 | Christmas Hymns 4

Easter Hymns

Hymns 1 | Hymns 2 | Hymns 3 | Hymns 4 | Hymns 5 | Hymns 6 | Hymns 7 | Hymns 8 | Hymns 9

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