IRVING BERLIN, WOODY GUTHRIE AND THE HATIKVAH
“God Save America” was once an anthem for all the United States,
till Woody Guthrie claimed that Berlin's anthem suffered from complacency and changed
the chorus to “This Land is Your Land,” which works better for those who're estranged
from God, and and thus against an anthem that refers to Him discriminates.
Woody's mother and his wife were just like Irving Berlin Jewish,
and with Aliza Greenblatt, his poetic mother-in-law he put to song
a lot of lovely Yiddish lyrics that weren't red, white and blueish,
inspired by that great tradition for which Jewish artists ought to long.
Presumably when writing that “this land is your land” he meant also that it's ours,
that of its the Jewish citizens, who also dreamt about a far more distant land,
hoping as in the Hatikvah that with the help of God and superpowers
the Jewish people would establish their own state is Israel, as they then planned.
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How & why is it so many making comments talk about all those in detention or crossing the border illegally? People seeking legal asylum have not broken the law by simply appearing or crossing the border even if our potus & ag say so......
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I found it very disconcerting that the person presently occupying the White House clearly has no idea what the words are to this beautiful second national anthem. See NYT video, June 9th.
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Why does everything have to get political... it was a decent article until the slant at the end. I found it interesting that parents and kids were separated 100 years ago, under Obama and again under Trump. Thank goodness he did the executive order to stop that practice something Obama and Congress could have done years ago.
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I am not sure what is more shocking a NY Times story that praises God Bless America or that they actually somehow tried to tie this wonderful song into totally unrelated immigration issues.
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Berlin himself was an immigrant. His family were Jews fleeing persecution. What possible explanation can you have for saying this story is unrelated to immigration issues? You must have resolute tunnel vision.
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I mentioned this fact to a co-worker. Highlighting the current administration policy, and it's supporter. The reply was that Irving Berlin immigrated legally. Those of whom are attempting to immigrate, to escape horrible conditions, are having their children ripped away from them because they are "illegal". I don't think a 2 year old knows the difference, and certainly does not understand why he/she is confined in a cage. Or, is it summer camp?
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Legal immigrant.
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Refugee who requested asylum.
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The folks who are attempting to migrate to this country are trying to do so legally. They appear at the border and apply for asylum. This was always done this way. It is only the current administration that has begun to deny them the opportunity to acquire legal status.
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I belong to a women's singing group that sings in nursing homes around the county. Lately, we have been ending our program with "God Bless America". It sometimes moves us to tears to see many of the residents struggle to their feet, hands over their hearts, singing along with us. To them, it is a second national anthem.
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There's a wonderful DVD that the Kate Smith Fan Club put together. I think it's from "This Is The Army." When Kate starts singing, the scene shifts to various people listening, Ronald Reagan and George Murphy among them, as they reflect on the war they are entering.
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The song's references to an unspecified God reflects the tenor of its time. Today most enlightened observers would realize the inherent dangers of any nation claiming that it can do no wrong because it identifies itself and its people as being righteously “blessed” and approved by some higher power.
As refugees fleeing persecution & poverty, not only would Irving Berlin's family have been turned away today by Trump and his ilk. The same fate would apply today to a certain Mary MacLeod, Donald Trump's mother, who arrived from Scotland in 1930 at the age of 18 and worked as a nanny - a "dirt-poor servant escaping the even worse poverty of her native land."
It's a sad and ironic commentary that Trump would have kept his own mother from fleeing to our shores for a better life if it had been up to him.
Mary MacLeod is likely rolling over in her grave, seeing that her son shamefully clawed his way to the Presidency by castigating and dehumanizing present day seekers of the American Dream, and as President calls them an "infestation" - or worse - for his own self-serving political ends.
This, as he tears children from their mother's arms, and locks them up in internment camps. Hopefully with Mueller's findings he'll be the one locked up instead.
Of course there is one group of foreigners that Trump does admire and embrace --the Russians and all their authoritarian brethren worldwide.
So sad, so sad.
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Did you happen to read about the Executive Order that ended Obama's practice of caging kids and separating them from their parents? Apparently this wasn't so offensive when it was Obama's Homeland Security team building the cages. Did Trump's administration amplify this situation, yes... but none of this was new. Apparently it has been going on since the early 1900's at least.
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Sorry, you are wrong. Obama did not separate children from their parents. There were children who were caged without parents during the Obama administration, but that is because they arrived at the border alone. I agree that the caging, regardless of who does it, is awful. But Obama did not have children dragged from their parents arms.
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Mr. Trump would have turned Mary and Joseph away if they had tried to stop at his Trump manger. They probably would be told to keep moving because they did not resemble the Norwegians travelers he was hoping to attract.
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Paragraph on the family being sent back in today's world is patently false and represents poor journalism and narrow thinking without regard to context or legality. Berlin's family, like thousands of others, LEGALLY applied for immigration at Ellis Island and were granted such. They did not SNEAK in over a border. They were not SMUGGLED in. So I'm actually pretty wildly offended by "If Irving Berlin’s family had sought asylum in the United States today, they would likely have been deported — deemed criminals just for landing on American soil in their flight from persecution" because there would be no reason to deport somebody who is coming here legally, has a legitimate fear of persecution (please take some time to actually READ some HISTORY to find out about Jews in Russia in the 1890s and you'll know from legitimate), and is willing to do the work within the system that is in place. I hate blatant untruths that represent something unreal, and this is one of them when the FACTS are presented properly and in the correct CONTEXT. This is even worse from an institution like the New York Times who has a reporter who did not even bother to see how LEGAL immigration is still working in this country and how many thousands of families following our rules are NOT separated.
I believe a correction is in order and perhaps an apology to Berlin's history overall and those immigrants who are still here because they honor and respect the system.
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This is nonsense. The laws were different then. Try reading some history yourself. When the Jews tried to leave Nazi Germany, they were not granted asylum because a system of racial/religious national quotas were enacted by a nativist Congress. Berlin was let in as an immigrant. Cruel laws were enacted to keep more people like him out.
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There are still legal asylum seekers whether our potus or ag believe it or not!
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I wonder if the Trump family knows this history. I mean, after all, their ancestors were immigrants and America gave them opportunity and freedom, unlike what they want now.
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Great article until the last paragraph. Why is the author so sure Berlin’s family would be separated and sent away? Such a bizarre claim. Unnecessary to even go there when the rest of the article was so well done.
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As an amusing--and somewhat less reverent--sidelight to all this, I remember reading that Berlin outlived the song's copyright protection, so for the last few years of his long life he was no longer entitled to royalties from this work. He was greatly irritated by this and every time well-wishers would serenade him with the song he would mention of the fact that he was no longer making a nickel from it.
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Read this regarding Irving Berlin, beginning in 1940, giving over all future royalties from "God Bless America" to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, who have collected millions from it. Irving Berlin and his heirs never collected a penny from the song, and it doesn't enter the public domain until 2034.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/14/us/irving-berlin-gave-the-scouts-a-gi...
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This would be an untrue statement if he had not turned over the proceeds to charities and organizations. Currently, at least until the end of this year, all pieces composed and copyright 1923 or later and renewed after their initial period, most of them and ALL of Berlin's, will be under copyright protection. In January, the 1923 works will become public domain. This given, GBA will be protected until at least 2036. So if he had chosen to collect he could have. Having written about and studied Berlin and his peers extensively, I assure you that is likely part of his sense of humor. Never found a credible source for the "irritation" story.
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He didn’t get royalties from this song—he assigned them to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America, who have made quite a bit of money from them.
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One might wonder if the "supreme being", the song appeals to for a blessing, is really able or willing to invoke such a blessing given the state of affairs we find ourselves living in. Makes one wonder ...
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“When they finally arrived on American soil, . . . the boy was placed in a holding pen with his brother and sisters, while immigration officials decided their fate. . . . The family . . . was soon reunited and allowed to enter the country.”
The separation of children from their parents while their status and admissibility as immigrants is being determined has been our policy, it seems, for at least the last 120 years – probably longer.
Why is our doing so, for illegal aliens who are by their breaking illegally into our country less entitled to acceptance, now so terrible?
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@ Texas, it shouldnt have been done then and it shouldnt be done now.
It has been "our policy, for at least the last 120 years - probably longer ... why is our doing so ... now so terrible" is lame, misguided justification that it is ok. It makes me wonder about the slavery issue. The same could have been said way- back- when at the time Abraham Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation. "Four score and 7 years ago, our Founding Forefathers had slaves and by God if it was good enough for them to own, rape, beat and occasionally kill them then it should and is good enough for us".
Nope, just doesnt pass the God Bless America and Make Her Great Again smell test Texas Liburl.
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As I read this fine article (and especially when I saw the photo of Mr. Berlin in his uniform) I realized how strange I felt and how strongly I was affected. Sadly, one doesn’t see articles about Irving Berlin in the mainstream anymore and this, in addition to reminding me of my own advancing age, brought on a few tears.
Granted that the gist of the piece was more political rather than about music, but I was reminded where music now stands and the deprivation I now feel without the likes of Irving Berlin as well as Kern, Rodgers, Gershwin, Porter and Coward (I could go on for an entire page but I think my point is made). That young people aren’t properly exposed to the work of these giants is so sad and the loss is theirs.
Fortunately, I have thousands of fine recordings and I think I’ll go listen to a few right now and also pour myself a glass of cold iced tea.
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"This Land Is Everyone's Land" in last week's Riverdale Press.
It is similar to this article but it also asks everyone to turn their flag upside down to show our country is in distress. Here is the link.
http://riverdalepress.com/stories/tnis-land-is-everyones-land,66084
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I don't agree with the author that the family of IB would have been deported if they came here today. it should be obvious .
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Sources are always helpful. Like when you claim that the anthem was used in the 70s by right wing activists opposed to school integration. Who was it? And where? Because historically, it was Democrats who not only opposed school desegregation, but violently attacked those who supported it. For example, Georgia Democratic Governor Marvin Griffin, in response to Eisenhower’s actions to protect African-American youth, promised he would, “Maintain segregation in the schools and the races will not be mixed come hell or high water.” Democratic Governor Allen Shivers of Texas deployed the Texas Rangers to keep blacks from entering schools in Mansfield. Legislation was introduced in the Democratically controlled Georgia legislature so that if desegregation was attempted the public schools of the state would be dissolved and replaced with state-run private schools so that blacks could be excluded. See how I provide details that are historically accurate and verifiable? That’s what journalists should do as well. It’s called being honest.
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Only southern Democrats supported segregation. They quickly were marginalized by the national party and found refuge in the Republican Party, which has sadly repudiated its roots and gone over to the dark side.
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Mike A, you are so right! It’s funny that Republicans constantly remind us that it was Southern Democrats who fought civil rights legislation. These same southerners quickly became Republican after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed by a Democratic president. I was an 17 year old in Georgia at the time. My state voted Republican the first time since the Civil War that year. So those Democratic segregationists just became Republican segregationists and that party still has its cultural roots in 1964.
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Steve:
After the Civil War, the northern states tended to be Republican and the southern states Democrat. The reason was that the North revered Lincoln and the South revered the lost cause . This only started to change in the 20th Century under FDR who united southern Democrats with the Northern Democrats in a coalition which paid lip service to civil rights, was pro-union and somewhat progressive. The South was ok with this-until the ‘60’s, when LBJ got the Civil Rights Act passed. At which point virtually every Southern Democrat became-and still is-a Southern Republican. Trying to blame something like this on a political party that has been around for 175 years is childish.
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Would Trump have allowed this young person in?
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Probably his entrance would be trumped.
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NY Times: Never miss a chance to slant the story towards your open borders, left-winged agenda! Lots of speculation and non-fact based statements in this self=serving article about Irving Berlin's song!
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While it did occur to me, a lifelong Democrat (pardon my French), to raise an eyebrow at this enlistment of Irving Berlin into a 21st Century cause, I feel so much rigid typecast goose step tone in your reply that I have to respectfully deplore it. Sad!
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Out in St.Louis as a kid I noticed that Circuses and other events used to close with recordings of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America” . I began to wonder if that was where “It’s not over until the fat lady sings” came from.
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A song for the ages. What Eleanor Roosevelt said was true. Intolerance and injustice will ruin our democracy more than threats from other countries. "The wretched refuse of your teeming shores "is what made America great at the time it was written and as it applies to today. No one living in America today would be here without the spirit and determination of immigrants. No exceptions!!
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true, legal immigrants... not anyone just running over our borders
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Were the pilgrims legal?
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He was an immigrant, right?
Fleeing persecution and coming to America as a refugee...where his family filed paperwork to that effect. He did not sneak into the country illegally, breaking any laws by trying to do so. Good for him.
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Lucky him that his family wasn't denied the right to apply for asylum like so many are now.
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But he broke laws in Russia, so send him back. And I suspect that you would want to reward the law abiding citizen who turned in Anne Frank-another law breaker. And of course, you would be happy to learn that we did not bend the laws enacted by our omniscient legislators to let Jews fleeing Hitler in. People who support harsh laws unintelligently enforced are apparently capable of thinking only in comforting slogans.
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The last para totally misrepresents the reality of today's situation as being a parallel with Berlin's entry. Not true. Berlin and his family arrived at Ellis Island, in full conformance with the law and immigration entry application procedures.
No applicant for entry using facilities established therefor was "deemed criminal" nor are they so labelled today; only those that try to break in, bypassing those facilities, have violated the law.
Ms. Kashowitz plays fast and loose with the facts.
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Not really. The laws have changed and Irving would be sent back today. You need to actually think sometimes.
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FANTASTIC. God Bless America..to ALL
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Well tempered and thought out article on G-d Bless America! Except for the ending, claiming Irving and his family would be deported today! Jewish folks from Russia?! In Trump's America where most of the banned are from Muslim nations and Mexicans are supposedly criminals?! I doubt it!!!
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How interesting this song was sung after a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt warning about hate and bigotry. For all our flag waving and boasting our country has not matured as much as we thump our chests about.
Maybe confronting our shady past is the only way as a society we can ever move past it. Denial and ignorance has not worked, that's for sure.
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What a moving story about an immigrant and his beautiful tribute to the adopted country he loved. Until, that is, the article took a turn at the end.
It should have ended by reminding us that the US has the largest immigrant population in the world, almost 50 million people. It could have celebrated the US as the welcoming land of opportunity it has been for so many. The NYT must believe that America never deserves heartfelt gratitude, but that’s exactly what my four grandparents felt their entire post Ellis Island lives. A reminder of our unique success and history as a haven for foreign born people in need would have gone further much further as an argument for compassion in immigration.
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What a beautiful and timely article. Thank you.
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Two days after 9/11, our conservative New York City synagogue organized an incredibly moving inter-faith service for the many of us who were searching for solace and community. At the conclusion, the cantors invited the congregation to stand and sing “God Bless America.” My then husband, who had grown up as an Orthodox Jew, remarked that in all his years in synagogue, he had never heard a song sung in direct tribute to America, much less one that could be thought of as remotely political. As we both stood proudly singing, hands over hearts, he heard it for the first time.
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