This Is My Song  (Performance Video Series)
Channel: Jim Wilson Music
Date: 2023-08-21

This Is My Song  (Performance Video Series) 

This was one of my father’s favorite songs to sing in church. He said it reminded him of when he was an Air Force pilot in the Berlin Airlift, dropping supplies to the Allies. He was struck by the fact that when you’re flying over countries, there are no borders, no divisive ideologies, no political conflicts — just beautiful landscapes.

I love the backstory about this melody. It’s from Finlandia, a tone poem written in 1899 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The song was so beloved, it was proposed as the Finnish national anthem. From Wiki: “In order to avoid Russian censorship, Finlandia had to be performed under alternative names at various musical concerts.” Dozens of songs have been created from this one Sibelius melody. One of them, “This Is My Song,” was written by Lloyd Stone in 1934 as an international song of peace. It chokes me up every time I sing it. I love the song’s reminder that “other hearts in other lands are beating, with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.” Hope you enjoy it too.

This Is My Song 
       Music: "Finlandia" Jean Sibelius, 1899
       Lyric: Lloyd Stone, 1934 
 
This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
 A song of peace for lands afar and mine,
 This is my home, the country where my heart is,
 Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine,
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
 With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine,
 
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
 And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
 But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
 And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
 Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
 A song of peace for their land and for mine.
 
May truth and freedom come to every nation
 May peace abound where strife has raged so long;
 That each may seek to love and build together,
 A world united, righting every wrong.
 A world united in its love for freedom,
 Proclaiming peace together in one song.
 
*Songbooks, CDs and more at JimWilsonMusic.com*


VIDEO CREDITS: Denise Bundlie: Multimedia montages
David Beeler: Music video production


Tag :: 

Jim Wilson piano,
piano music,composer,
Piano,instrumentals,
there are no borders,
no divisive ideologies,
1899 Lyric: Lloyd Stone,
1934 This is my song,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine,
This is my home,
the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes,
my sacred shrine,
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
This Is My Song,
A world united in its love for freedom,
A world united,
righting every wrong,
Performance Video Series
no divisive ideologies,
1899 Lyric: Lloyd Stone,
1934 This is my song,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine,
This is my home,
the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes,
my sacred shrine,
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
This Is My Song,
A world united in its love for freedom,
A world united,
righting every wrong,
Performance Video Series