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America Saved the Day

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https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/966704e0-e466-0135-4ad8-0050569601ca-5
No Copyright - United States (RightsStatements.org)

The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.

Descriptive Information

Title
America Saved the Day
Composer
Brown, Harry Leslie  
Lyricist
Brown, Harry Leslie  
Publisher
Harry Leslie Brown  
Place of Publication
Laconia (N.H.)  
Year of Publication
1918  
Date of Copyright
1918-09-24
Physical Description
1 score, voice and piano ([1], 2-3, [1] p.)
Comment
This is clearly the product of an amateur, but the music is skilled, if simple, and the words are bluntly effective. Brown made dedicated efforts at promotion—an advertising broadside and an arrangement for choir that he placed with a Boston distributor—but only one performance is known and there were no other notices in the press.
Historical Note
  • The composer’s name is absent from the cover; it is given on p. 2 as Harry L. Brown. The cover is unsigned, but the manuscript deposit confirms that it was designed by Brown. White-Smith is implied to be the printer on Brown’s advertising broadside.
  • The dates overlaid on the stars on the cover link World War I with four previous American wars.
  • This is the first of two editions; the second is an arrangement for choir. Brown copyrighted a six-page manuscript copy on August 17, 1918, that included a full ink, typescript, colored pencil drawing of the cover; at the bottom is typed “Words, music, cover design and arrangement by Harry L. Brown, Laconia, N. H.” The manuscript is musically identical to the first edition, but the final lyric line of the refrain is “Oh God she is trusting in Thee.”
  • The back cover of the second edition reprints an October 16 newspaper article asserting that Brown’s song will be used as the finale for an army-camp minstrel show, but no other performances have been discovered, nor any recordings or piano rolls.
Musical Note
A waltz song with a rather simple, repetitive melody but with several somewhat unusual chromatic inflections.
Dedication
Dedication
Subject - Topic
  • World War, 1914-1918  
  • Songs and music  
  • Popular music  
  • Patriotic music  
Subject - Geographic
United States  
Subject - Temporal
1911-1920  
Lyrics
  • [verse 1] What Nation stands with outstretched hand, / For peace and justice in ev'ry land, / That's slow to anger and suffers long, / Before it says "stop" to a hated wrong?
  • [refrain 1] America! America! The home of the brave and the free; / America, America, O God, she is trusting in Thee; / To drive from the world cruel despots and dearth, / And establish justice upon the whole earth, / America, America, America saved the day.
  • [verse 2] Foes have arisen since our Nation was born, / Demanding injustice a thing that we scorn; / Torturing the innocent, plund'ring the world, / What Nation said "stop" as the bullets whirled?
  • [refrain 2]
  • [verse 3] Today "Over There" 'mid the shells and the gas, / We are fighting the Hun who cannot pass; / Tho' they stoop to Satan who runs their rig, / Who'll smash their lines and end their jig?
  • [refrain 3]
  • [verse 4] 'Tis God who leads in our Nation's wars, / He holds our hands we keep His laws; / 'Tis He who says go forth and win, / "Peace on earth and good will to men."
  • [refrain 4]
Musical Genre
Waltz song
Repository
Newberry Library
Rights
NoC-US
Rights Description
The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
Artist
Brown, Harry Leslie  
Printer
White-Smith Music Publishing Co.  
Cover Description
Three panels defined by red horizontal bars: top, title with star in background; middle, text of refrain and four stars labeled 1776, 1812, 1865, and 1898; bottom, a larger star and the first line of the third verse. Blue and red on white; unsigned.
Back Cover Description
Blank.
Interior Description
Plate number: p. 3, BL: America Saved the Day 2
Performance Medium
Voice and piano.  
Original Location
Box 163
Local Identifier
nda163_023
Collection Title
James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music
Collection
World War I Sheet Music from the James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music
TitleAmerica Saved the Day
ComposerBrown, Harry Leslie  
LyricistBrown, Harry Leslie  
PublisherHarry Leslie Brown  
Place of PublicationLaconia (N.H.)  
Year of Publication1918  
Date of Copyright1918-09-24
Physical Description1 score, voice and piano ([1], 2-3, [1] p.)
CommentThis is clearly the product of an amateur, but the music is skilled, if simple, and the words are bluntly effective. Brown made dedicated efforts at promotion—an advertising broadside and an arrangement for choir that he placed with a Boston distributor—but only one performance is known and there were no other notices in the press.
Historical Note
  • The composer’s name is absent from the cover; it is given on p. 2 as Harry L. Brown. The cover is unsigned, but the manuscript deposit confirms that it was designed by Brown. White-Smith is implied to be the printer on Brown’s advertising broadside.
  • The dates overlaid on the stars on the cover link World War I with four previous American wars.
  • This is the first of two editions; the second is an arrangement for choir. Brown copyrighted a six-page manuscript copy on August 17, 1918, that included a full ink, typescript, colored pencil drawing of the cover; at the bottom is typed “Words, music, cover design and arrangement by Harry L. Brown, Laconia, N. H.” The manuscript is musically identical to the first edition, but the final lyric line of the refrain is “Oh God she is trusting in Thee.”
  • The back cover of the second edition reprints an October 16 newspaper article asserting that Brown’s song will be used as the finale for an army-camp minstrel show, but no other performances have been discovered, nor any recordings or piano rolls.
Musical NoteA waltz song with a rather simple, repetitive melody but with several somewhat unusual chromatic inflections.
DedicationDedication
Subject - Topic
  • World War, 1914-1918  
  • Songs and music  
  • Popular music  
  • Patriotic music  
Subject - GeographicUnited States  
Subject - Temporal1911-1920  
Lyrics
  • [verse 1] What Nation stands with outstretched hand, / For peace and justice in ev'ry land, / That's slow to anger and suffers long, / Before it says "stop" to a hated wrong?
  • [refrain 1] America! America! The home of the brave and the free; / America, America, O God, she is trusting in Thee; / To drive from the world cruel despots and dearth, / And establish justice upon the whole earth, / America, America, America saved the day.
  • [verse 2] Foes have arisen since our Nation was born, / Demanding injustice a thing that we scorn; / Torturing the innocent, plund'ring the world, / What Nation said "stop" as the bullets whirled?
  • [refrain 2]
  • [verse 3] Today "Over There" 'mid the shells and the gas, / We are fighting the Hun who cannot pass; / Tho' they stoop to Satan who runs their rig, / Who'll smash their lines and end their jig?
  • [refrain 3]
  • [verse 4] 'Tis God who leads in our Nation's wars, / He holds our hands we keep His laws; / 'Tis He who says go forth and win, / "Peace on earth and good will to men."
  • [refrain 4]
Musical GenreWaltz song
RepositoryNewberry Library
RightsNoC-US
Rights DescriptionThe organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
ArtistBrown, Harry Leslie  
PrinterWhite-Smith Music Publishing Co.  
Cover DescriptionThree panels defined by red horizontal bars: top, title with star in background; middle, text of refrain and four stars labeled 1776, 1812, 1865, and 1898; bottom, a larger star and the first line of the third verse. Blue and red on white; unsigned.
Back Cover DescriptionBlank.
Interior DescriptionPlate number: p. 3, BL: America Saved the Day 2
Performance MediumVoice and piano.  
Original LocationBox 163
Local Identifiernda163_023
Collection TitleJames Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music
CollectionWorld War I Sheet Music from the James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music

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