The National Hymn’s Best Version: Ray Charles’ “America the Beautiful” | American Enterprise Institute
It’s not surprising that President Trump chose to be introduced at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall by country singer Lee Greenwood performing his signature song, “God Bless the USA.” Its lyrics, combining patriotism with combativeness, are perfect for Trump. “The flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that away.” “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.”
Celebrations for the July 4 semiquincentennial may be over—but the anniversary year continues—and it’s worth reflecting on the right songs to sing to celebrate it.
A great many Americans undoubtedly sang last weekend the song which the New York Post correctly described as our “national hymn.” Katherine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful,” the melodic and poetic celebration of both the country’s values (“patriot dream that sees beyond the years”) and beauty (“purple mountains majesty”).
That it can be considered a unifying national hymn was not inevitable, though. There was a time when that role was filled by Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” less commonly sung today.
A good case can be made that “America the Beautiful”’s near-universal appreciation today is the result of the recording of a specific version of the song in 1972: that of the blind, Black popular singer Ray Charles. Comments, among thousands posted this July 4th weekend, tell the story.
“I can’t get through this song without tearing up. He sang it better than anyone else I’ve ever heard.” “No one sings it like Ray.” “It’s July 3, 2026, and I got chills so bad from watching this. Almost had to grab a blanket. God bless America!” There are hundreds of similar postings, not one negative, on the occasion of the 250th.
It may be that “Brother Ray’s” version has such widespread appeal because of his own life story. He was born in Jim Crow Albany, Georgia, and yet embraced Bates’ sentiments. He learned music at a state school for the blind in Florida and overcame drug addiction.
But his version of Bates’ poem, set to music by Newark church organist Samuel Augustus Ward, inspires because of much more than Charles’ own life story. Charles’ “America the Beautiful” stylings are America itself, combining a range of American music forms—it’s both formal (“this is how we used to sing it back in school”) and transformed by the style of the black church, with blue notes and back-up chorus. As Brother Ray (the title of his 1992 autobiography) puts it, with a nod to black English, “America, America, God done shed his grace on thee.” The combination of white and black music traditions made Ray Charles, the quintessential American singer, combining blues, jazz, gospel and what he called “modern sounds in country music.” He transformed American popular music.
The Charles’ version of the Bates poem, what’s more, in the manner of the greatest musical interpretations, makes “America the Beautiful” fresh. Notably, he starts his version in the middle, not with amber waves of grain but with a previously more obscure and seldom-sung verse, Bates’ third stanza. By choosing it, Charles makes clear his patriotism, and the link among defense of country, shared prosperity and religion. It combines a gospel chorus with introductory and closing military drum rolls.
“Oh, beautiful for heroes proved, In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country love
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine.”
Released in the era of the Black Power and New Left movements in a 1972 album entitled “A Message from the People,” it was marketed as a protest record but turned out to be an anti-protest protest. It has not only become the most popular version (1.5 million views for the 2022 50th anniversary YouTube alone) of the quasi-anthem, but led to Charles being embraced by the full range of audiences, including the Grand Ole Opry, which dedicated an entire tribute show to him. His duets include one with Willie Nelson, another singer who’s become an icon. Charles is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Lee Greenwood is not.
At a time when social media is replete with bitterness, one can find not a discouraging word about Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful.” Charles, sadly, is no longer with us—but perhaps his recording should be played at patriotic public events like the Great American State Fair. Especially during a long hot summer, it would be good to get the chills.
Howard Husock, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has written about music for The Boston Phoenix, City Journal and Wilson Quarterly.
