Irving Berlin, by all accounts one of America’s greatest songwriters, came to America in 1893 when his parents left Russia to escape persecution. Drafted into the Army in 1918, he was assigned to create songs for an Army show, Yip! Yip! Yaphank. (Yaphank, on New York’s Long Island, was the site of an Army camp.) America’s “other national anthem,” “God Bless America” was composed for that show, but Berlin was uncomfortable in the role of “flag-waver” and he cut the song.

In 1908, when he was 20, Berlin took a new job at a saloon named Jimmy Kelly’s in the Union Square neighborhood. There, he was able to collaborate with other young songwriters, such as Edgar Leslie, Ted Snyder, Al Piantadosi, and George A. Whiting. In 1909, the year of the premiere of Israel Zangwill‘s The Melting Pot, he got another big break as a staff [writer] with the Ted Snyder Company.

Installed as a staff lyricist with a leading Tin Pan Alley music publishing house, Berlin quickly established himself as one of that frantic industry’s top writers of words to other composer’s melodies. By 1910 he was already in demand and even appeared in a Shubert Broadway revue performing his own songs. It was purely by chance that Berlin started composing music to the words of his songs. A lyric he had submitted to a publisher was thought to be complete with music. Not wishing to lose the sale, Berlin quickly wrote a melody. It was accepted and published. The success of this first effort opened the door to his career as a composer of music as well as lyrics. In 1910, Berlin wrote a hit that solidly established him as one of Tin Pan Alley’s leading composers. Alexander’s Ragtime Band not only popularized the vogue for “ragtime,” but later inspired a major motion picture…

Wikipedia

The song was revived by singer Kate Smith when she chose it for her radio program on Armistice Day, 1938. “God Bless America” met with tremendous immediate and lasting success. Ms. Smith’s version is considered by many to be THE definitive version of the song.

Said Berlin of the anthem, “I’ve tried to express my feelings in this song, which is not just a song but an expression of my gratitude to the country that inspired it.”

Berlin’s daughter, Mary Ellin Barrett, states that the song was actually very personal” for her father, and was intended as an expression of his deep gratitude to the nation for merely “allowing” him, an immigrant raised in poverty, to become a successful songwriter. “To me,” said Berlin, “‘God Bless America’ was not just a song but an expression of my feeling toward the country to which I owe what I have and what I am.” The Economist magazine writes that “Berlin was producing a deep-felt paean to the country that had given him what he would have said was everything.”

Wikipedia

In true patriotic fashion, Berlin donated all of the royalties and other income from the song to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. Celebrating his 80th birthday in 1968 on the Ed Sullivan Show, he chose to perform “God Bless America.”

Interestingly, although a brilliant songwriter, Irving Berlin was very limited as a pianist. In fact, reportedly he only played (and wrote) songs in the key of F# (which means he played virtually only the black keys). Not to worry, piano maker Weser Bros. came to the rescue!

[Berlin’s] transposing upright piano was made by Weser Brothers in New York, New York in 1940. According to the inscription on the case, it was made “expressly for Irving Berlin.” The transposing mechanism moves the action and keyboard so that the player can play in any key. Irving Berlin was a self-taught pianist who preferred to play on the black keys. 

National Museum of American History

Notably, Berlin was a founding member of the oldest Performing Rights Organization, ASCAP.

Irving Berlin was born Israel Beilin May 11, 1888, in the Russian Empire. passed away in 1989 at the age of 101.

See also: God Bless America: The Meaning Behind Irving Berlin’s Famous Patriotic Song

See Irving Berlin’s songwriting credits here.

God Bless America Lyrics

(Words and Music by Irving Berlin)

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
thru the night with a light
from above

From the mountains, to the prairies
to the oceans white with foam
God bless America
my home sweet home

God bless America
my home sweet home!