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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.
This short self-publication, with lyrics by a Danish immigrant set to a Danish folk song, was probably written as a declaration of loyalty shortly after the United States entered the war. It left no trace other than in its publication.Marie Tetel
Historical Note
This was the only printing, and no piano rolls or recordings have been found, nor any performances or advertisements.
The publisher’s address was Marie Tetel’s home at the time.
Musical Note
The cover indicates that the music was transcribed from an old Danish melody. Marie Tetel was Danish by birth, so it is very likely that she supplied a melody that Cora Edgerly then transcribed and arranged. The opening phrase closely resembles early versions of “King Christian,” which by 1917 was a national air of Denmark.
Dedication
Dedication
Subject - Topic
Songs and music
Soldiers
Folk music
Patriotic music
Popular music
Songs and music
World War, 1914-1918
Subject - Geographic
United States
Denmark
Subject - Temporal
1911-1920
Lyrics
[refrain 3]
[verse 3] Then all together boys, into the battle's noise / And give your life if it must be, for love of Freedom's joys, / This cruel war must cease and man return to God / Back from the paths of sorrow which he so long has trod.
[refrain 2]
[verse 2] Let our proud eagle soar above the cannons' roar / Until the stars and stripes shall float in peace from shore to shore, / The sign and seal of freedom and of liberty to all, / United now forever, we all must stand or fall.
[refrain 1] America for Thee, America for Thee. / America for Thee.
[verse 1] To Europe we must go, to fight a foreign foe, / Its not for gold nor sordid gain, we seek a nation's woe / We go to wrest a sceptre from a cruel tyrant's hand, / To liberate the people, we fight at God's command.
Musical Genre
March 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.
Cover Description
Text only, in simple frame.
Back Cover Description
Blank.
Interior Description
Plate number: p. 3, BL: America For Thee 2
p. 2, above composer: Music transcribed from an Old Danish Melody
Cover, bottom: Price 50 cents per copy
Cover, above composer's name: Music Transcribed from / Old Danish Melody by
Performance Medium
Voice and piano.
Original Location
Box 163
Local Identifier
nda163_060
Collection Title
James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music
This short self-publication, with lyrics by a Danish immigrant set to a Danish folk song, was probably written as a declaration of loyalty shortly after the United States entered the war. It left no trace other than in its publication.Marie Tetel
Historical Note
This was the only printing, and no piano rolls or recordings have been found, nor any performances or advertisements.
The publisher’s address was Marie Tetel’s home at the time.
Musical Note
The cover indicates that the music was transcribed from an old Danish melody. Marie Tetel was Danish by birth, so it is very likely that she supplied a melody that Cora Edgerly then transcribed and arranged. The opening phrase closely resembles early versions of “King Christian,” which by 1917 was a national air of Denmark.
Dedication
Dedication
Subject - Topic
Songs and music
Soldiers
Folk music
Patriotic music
Popular music
Songs and music
World War, 1914-1918
Subject - Geographic
United States
Denmark
Subject - Temporal
1911-1920
Lyrics
[refrain 3]
[verse 3] Then all together boys, into the battle's noise / And give your life if it must be, for love of Freedom's joys, / This cruel war must cease and man return to God / Back from the paths of sorrow which he so long has trod.
[refrain 2]
[verse 2] Let our proud eagle soar above the cannons' roar / Until the stars and stripes shall float in peace from shore to shore, / The sign and seal of freedom and of liberty to all, / United now forever, we all must stand or fall.
[refrain 1] America for Thee, America for Thee. / America for Thee.
[verse 1] To Europe we must go, to fight a foreign foe, / Its not for gold nor sordid gain, we seek a nation's woe / We go to wrest a sceptre from a cruel tyrant's hand, / To liberate the people, we fight at God's command.
Musical Genre
March 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.
Cover Description
Text only, in simple frame.
Back Cover Description
Blank.
Interior Description
Plate number: p. 3, BL: America For Thee 2
p. 2, above composer: Music transcribed from an Old Danish Melody
Cover, bottom: Price 50 cents per copy
Cover, above composer's name: Music Transcribed from / Old Danish Melody by
Performance Medium
Voice and piano.
Original Location
Box 163
Local Identifier
nda163_060
Collection Title
James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music
America for Thee. (1917). World War I Sheet Music from the James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music, Sousa Archives and Center for American Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/9894d390-e466-0135-4ad8-0050569601ca-d