America the Beautiful, probably known by every person above the first grade, whose from America that is. Professor Katherine Lee Bates wrote this song in 1893 on Pikes Peak in Colorado. This song, first a poem, was published in The Congregationalist, a weekly journal, on July 4^th of 1895. Katherine then revised the lyrics in 1904 and 1913. The poem was originally song to any tune that would fit and sounded good. It was usually sung to Auld Lang Syne.

The words to the poem were not put with Materna until 1910. People wanted to change it thought because they wanted it to be sung to less somber music, but no song seemed to fit better. This is why we still have it today with Materna. Samuel A. Ward composed Materna in 1882. Here are some of words that I find most beautiful in the song.

 O beautiful for patriot dream
          That sees beyond the years
           Thine alabaster cities gleam
           Undimmed by human tears.

These lyrics basically talk about the how the dreams of the people who built this country last through all the years and that our beautiful cities will last even through all the sadness in the country. The song basically talks about the beauty of this country and asks God to bless it and make it better in places of flaw. It also says “crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea”, which was most likely put in because this poem was written just after the Civil War had ended and Katherine most likely wanted the country to be at peace with itself.