My Country 'Tis of Thee (”America”), was the first widely recognized American national anthem. The lyrics were penned in 1831 by Samuel Francis Smith, a 24-year-old student at the Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. The lyrics are magnificent, majestic, and performed here as originally written. The music was borrowed from the British National Anthem, God Save the King. 

The music in this rendition replaces the British National Anthem, and is an all-American composition to honor our great nation on its 250th birthday.

Lyrics

My country tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,   

For this I sing.     

Land where my father’s died,  

Land of the pilgrim’s pride, 

From every mountainside, 

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 fills,

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 breath partake, 

Let rocks their silence break,

Thy sound prolong.     

Our father’s 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.