Day 64: My Country 'Tis of Thee/God Save the King

I don't know if you guys knew this or not, but while we were in church, when we were supposed to be singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee", my dad started singing "God Save the Queen"....I had no idea they were the same song until that moment! Interesting that we stole that from England, considering that the United States doesn't have monarchs, but Presidents....We've never had a song like "God save the President"...perhaps that will change someday. And I mean that in a respectful way, not as one of those people who make wisecracks about President Obama and disrespect his office. He's doing his best with what he has to deal with, which is quite a bit, and that's all I'm going to say about that. I never like getting into political arguments, and I will not do so here. Anyway, back to the song...I also realized that we rarely pay attention to any of the last verses, because we're used to singing the first ones, especially in patriotic songs. So, to change that, at least for today, I am going to give you all of the lyrics starting with "God Save the King" and then "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to show you how the song has progressed.

God Save the Queen

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!

O lord God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall!
Confound their knavish tricks,
Confuse their politics,
On you our hopes we fix,
God save the Queen!

Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world ov'er

From every latent foe,
From the assasins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!

Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign!
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

My Country 'Tis of Thee

My country tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died! Land of the Pilgrim's pride! From every mountain side, Let freedom ring! 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 fills Like that above.

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.

Our father's 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!