Let mortal tongues awake
NPR was broadcasting King's "I have a Dream" speech, ending
...This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." ...And when this happens... we will be able to speed up that day when all of G-d's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
The "Old Negro spiritual" sings about a special form of freedom which most of us are in no hurry to speed up,
Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last
Apparently, letting freedom ring would speed up the Rapture; some dream... A more interesting is the first song:
...Smith wrote the lyrics while a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. His friend Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_'Tis_of_Thee
If we are to believe the official story, this aspiring Baptist minister had no idea that he was composing patriotic lyrics to the tune of the most recognizable melody in the world! Furthermore, no one around him recognized that it was "God save the King." Massachusetts of year 1831 AD must've been quite a place (well, it is still quite a place). I do not believe this story for a second. Look how similar is this democratic makeover to the real deal
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.
vs.
O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter his enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.
I cannot stand this song, and I do not want to sing it with "a new meaning;" I do not want to sing it at all, period; its only meaning, as far as I can see, is that the theft does not pay.
It is incredible that this clumsy parody made it into the most cherished moments of national history. I have nothing against Dr King's dreams, but count me out from the singing part!
...This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." ...And when this happens... we will be able to speed up that day when all of G-d's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
The "Old Negro spiritual" sings about a special form of freedom which most of us are in no hurry to speed up,
Way down yonder in the graveyard walk
I thank God I'm free at last
Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk
I thank God I'm free at last
Apparently, letting freedom ring would speed up the Rapture; some dream... A more interesting is the first song:
...Smith wrote the lyrics while a student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts. His friend Lowell Mason had asked him to translate the lyrics in some German school songbooks or to write new lyrics. A melody in Muzio Clementi's Symphony No. 3 caught his attention. Rather than translating the lyrics from German, Smith wrote his own American patriotic hymn to the melody completing the lyrics in thirty minutes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Country,_'Tis_of_Thee
If we are to believe the official story, this aspiring Baptist minister had no idea that he was composing patriotic lyrics to the tune of the most recognizable melody in the world! Furthermore, no one around him recognized that it was "God save the King." Massachusetts of year 1831 AD must've been quite a place (well, it is still quite a place). I do not believe this story for a second. Look how similar is this democratic makeover to the real deal
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.
vs.
O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter his enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.
I cannot stand this song, and I do not want to sing it with "a new meaning;" I do not want to sing it at all, period; its only meaning, as far as I can see, is that the theft does not pay.
It is incredible that this clumsy parody made it into the most cherished moments of national history. I have nothing against Dr King's dreams, but count me out from the singing part!
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