God Bless America God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song. "God Bless America" takes the form of a prayer (intro lyrics "as we raise our voices, in a solemn prayer") for God's blessing and peace for the nation ("...stand beside her and guide her through the night..."). Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at
Heaven Watch the Philippines Leyte in 1946, in front of an audience that included Sergio Osmeña and Carlos P. Romulo. Berlin was touring U.S. military bases with a stage production of "This Is the Army", in 1945. During a stop in the Philippines, he heard children in Leyte singing the song "God Bless America" (which he had written in 1918 and had revised in 1938) with the lyric "God Bless the Philippines". Touched by that and feeling that they might like a song of their own, he composed "Heaven Watch the Philippines", trying to combine the spiritual quality of "God Bless America" with their