“God Save the King” shares its melody with which patriotic American song?
“God Save the King,” the national anthem of the United Kingdom, shares its melody with the patriotic American song, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee.” This is a classic example of a contrafactum, where new lyrics are set to an existing melody. The tune itself is quite old, with its precise origins debated, but it gained widespread recognition in Britain in the mid-18th century as “God Save the King/Queen.”
In the United States, the lyrics for “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” were written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 while he was a seminary student. He was asked to translate some German hymns and, upon seeing the melody, decided to write original patriotic words to it, seemingly unaware of its prominent use as the British national anthem. Before the official adoption of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 1931, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” served as one of the de facto national anthems of the United States, sung frequently at public gatherings and school events.
Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhT56siZ0oY
https://www.threads.com/@heavyweightwriting/post/DKo4X-bT2LW