My Country ‘Tis of Thee

1. My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring!

2. 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 thrills
Like that above.

3. No more shall tyrants here
With haughty steps appear,
And soldier bands;
No more shall tyrants tread
Above the patriot dead -
No more our blood be shed
By alien hands.

4. Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song:
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

5. Our fathers' 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.



An American patriotic song, the lyrics of which were written by Samuel Francis Smith.  The song served as one of the de facto national anthems of the United States (along with songs like "Hail, Columbia") before the adoption of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the official U.S. national anthem in 1931. 

The melody used is adapted from the national anthem of the United Kingdom, "God Save the King", and used by half the European monarchies as the anthem at some point since the early 18th century.  There is a French Kingdom version, a German Empire version, a Russia Empire version and even a Swedish version with the same melody.  Even Luxembourg used this as an anthem.