This day is always special for me. An anniversary of a personal sort.
So find it extremely fitting that my little bit of fact-finding should fall on this date.
Because on this very day, another extraordinary event occurred. On March 4, 1924, “Happy Birthday to You” was first published. It made its debut appearance in a songbook edited by Robert H. Coleman.
There is a bit of controversy regarding its origin, though. Geez. Even the Happy Birthday Song has its sordid past.
But, despite the discrepancies, most people agree that the tune is generally attributed to two sisters – Patty and Mildred J. Hill.
So these two sisters were obviously musical. And one of them was a school teacher. And with that, they created a song called “Good Morning to All” in 1893 that the kids could sing to get a happy start to their day.
At some point, somebody — an unknown somebody — made up the lyrics for the Happy Birthday song and fixed them on to the tune of the Hill sisters’ “Good Morning To All.” And. The first time the combination of the “Happy Birthday to You” lyrics and melody appeared was in 1912. (As noted, these first appearances did not include any credits.)
Then, some updated lyrics came along, and that version made up the popular tune we sing today — the one first published in that songbook by Robert Coleman in 1924.
If you were singing it for a lot of years, you were breaking a copyright law. Because in 1935, The Summy Company registered a copyright for the song, crediting the Hill sisters as the authors. The value of the birthday song at the time was $5 million.
But, since 2015, you’ve been okay to sing away. The song has been in the public domain in the United States and the European Union since the copyright claim was declared invalid.
A lot of people have broken those rules through the years. The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes ‘Happy Birthday to You’ as one of the three most popular songs in the English language. The other two most popular songs are ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.’ Or so they say.
Back to the Hill Sisters. Neither one of them married. Mildred died in 1916 before the Birthday Song was published. Patty passed in 1946. Patty and Mildred J. Hill were posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 12, 1996. They are also buried together in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, KY.
But what about the song, really? We might take a moment to consider that tune. It has been sung, over the years, to millions and millions of people all around the world. The words have been put forth in joy and celebration. Perhaps, other times, they have been sung in sadness or in worry. Yet, they have been sung to each one of us every year in hopes of more to come. It is something we all share as we grow older.
And we all grow older.
So. Happy Birthday. To all of us.
As we are making our way.
Watch the birthday song in all the languages! Click THIS!
=====
As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two.
— Norman Wisdom
=====
There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born, and the day we discover why.
— William Barclay
=====
Today is the oldest you have been and the youngest you will ever be. Make the most of it!
– Nicky Gumbel
=====
