Americanization Through Song: WWI-Era Songs by Irving Berlin

This is a guest post by Jed Edwards, who served as a TPS intern with the Library of Congress in 2024.

When the United States joined the war effort in Europe in 1917, it was a nation with a strong immigrant presence. In fact, one out of every three U.S. citizens was either first- or second-generation. Some in the U.S. sought to invoke a singular American identity through various forms of media, including music.

Irving Berlin, a Siberian-born songwriter and bandleader who had made a name for himself in Tin Pan Alley, wrote several songs with patriotic messages during World War I. Ask students to listen to “For Your Country and My Country.” Focus their attention on the messages in these lyrics:

It’s your country, it’s my country

With millions of real fighting men

It’s your duty and my duty

To speak with the sword, not the pen

If Washington were living today

With sword in hand, he’d stand up and say

“For your country and my country

I’ll do it all over again”

Ask students: What feelings do these lyrics inspire? Why would Berlin choose to invoke the spirit of George Washington rather than a living president or political figure?

Direct students to assess the language of another song that Berlin had a hand in, “Let’s All Be Americans Now,” focusing on this section:

England or France may have our sympathy, over the sea

But you’ll agree that now is the time to fall in line

You swore that you would be so true to your vow

Let’s all be Americans now

How might these lyrics contribute to a distinct American identity? What is the impact of these lyrics being written by Berlin, who was also an immigrant?

Berlin himself ended up being drafted in 1918 and was assigned to Camp Upton in Long Island, New York. Even as a member of the army, Berlin continued his craft and wrote a ‘revue’-style performance, Yip, Yip, Yaphank, with a cast of fellow soldiers to help raise money to construct a camp community center. The songs from Yip, Yip, Yaphank, such as “Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” and “We’re on Our Way to France,” may offer students a glimpse into what the experiences of soldiers were like during this time.

Berlin’s songs provide pertinent opportunities for students to explore the ways in which messages about American identity and support for World War I can be found in the works of one songwriter in the early 20th-century U.S. What did your students discover about the role music can play in shaping American identity?

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This blog offers free primary sources and teaching strategies to help students reflect on how some WWI-era music sought to invoke a singular American identity.  

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