I'm not that patriotic

I have a lot of memories from school days. I think because they didn't happen at home, I didn't block them out as much. I was reading something earlier that reminded me of all the patriotic songs we sang in school. I remember saying the Pledge of Allegiance almost everyday in elementary school. I personally think should be replaced with a "Pledge to Promise to Vote When I Turn 18" at least that's useful. And as I read that first line, My Country Tis of Thee, I realized it's the one song that makes everyone's voice sound good. I used to go to a lot of auditions in high school and people always sang Happy Birthday because they could remember the words on the spot if they hadn't prepared. But Happy Birthday makes anyone's voice sound horrible unless you're Whitney Houston. My country 'tis of thee is in the right pitch so that anyone can sing it and everyone is familiar with the melody, so as long as you hit that and just keep things smooth, you're golden.

This prompted me to look up the words beyond the famous 1st verse. I really like them, they're almost like a hymn. I'm not that patriotic, but they resonated with me. While I don't need flag decals on my bumper, I do love our country and think it's beautiful and worthy of a song like this.

1. My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!

2. 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 thrills, like that above.

3. 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.

4. Our fathers' 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.