This Is My Country
| "This Is My Country" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1940 |
| Genre | Patriotic song |
| Composer(s) | Al Jacobs |
| Lyricist(s) | Don Raye |
"This Is My Country" is an American patriotic song composed in 1940. The lyrics are by Don Raye and the music is by Al Jacobs.[1] Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians were the first to record the song, in 1942. The song has played at the end of Walt Disney World and Disneyland fireworks shows.[1]
Lyrics
The song begins slowly, opening with this introductory verse:
- What difference if I hail from North or South
- Or from the East or West?
- My heart is filled with love
- For all of these.
- I only know I swell with pride
- And deep within my breast
- I thrill to see Old Glory
- Paint the breeze.
A second, rarely performed, verse reads,
- With hand upon my heart, I thank the Lord for this, my native land, for all I love is here within her gates
- My soul is rooted deeply in the soil on which I stand, for these are mine, my own United States!
It then swings into a march tempo for the chorus.
The song is made notable by the fact that it honors both Americans by birth and choice. The first chorus reads:
- This is my country
- Land of my birth
- This is my country
- Grandest on Earth
While the second chorus (sung on a repeat, as the introduction is usually not repeated) instead reads:
- This is my country
- Land of my choice
- This is my country
- Hear my proud voice.
Both versions join together at the ending:
- I pledge thee my allegiance
- America the bold
- For this is my country
- To have and to hold
References
- ^ a b "This is My Country". The Library of Congress. 2002. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
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