“America the Beautiful” started its life as a poem written in 1893 by Kathy Lee Bates, an English professor. Upon learning that folks wanted to use her poem in song, she modified a few words to make the poem “more musical.” That’s when the skies became “spacious” and the plain became “fruited.”

The first verse and chorus are classic. They were good a hundred years ago, are good today and will be good a hundred years from now. Other parts of the poem suffer not so much from changing sentiment, as they do from the way we speak and use grammar today. It was partly for this reason that I wrote three new verses and two new choruses.

Early on, the poem was adapted to the tune of various popular songs, Auld Lang Syne being the most notable. The melody we know today was composed by Samuel A. Ward in 1882 for the ancient hymn, “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem.”

As an instrumental he called it “Materna.” His melody is timeless and, by those knowledgeable about music as well as those that simply appreciate it (the most important group actually), it is considered to be one of the most beautiful and expressive ever written.

Kathy Lee’s poem and Samuel Ward’s melody were combined in 1904 by Clarence Barbour, a New York clergyman. To him, the poem was reverent and he felt the melody should be as well.

After reviewing several hymnals, he found “Materna” which he thought to be perfect... the irony? Samuel Ward died in 1903, never knowing the melody he composed would be wedded to Kathy Lee Bates’ poem to make the song “America the Beautiful,” considered by many to be America’s “other national anthem.”