Warner got what they deserved but without royalties slowing its spread, ‘Happy Birthday to You’ was free to continue its world domination unimpeded.Ĥ. The copyright was deemed illegal and Warner got their comeuppance, having to return $14m in royalties. If you were caught singing Happy Birthday in a restaurant on Pop’s 80th, you would have to pay $700!Īfter raking in a fortune in film rights, thankfully it all backfired. Warner then stated that any unauthorized public performances of the song were illegal unless royalties are paid. Then in 1988, Warner/Chappell Music saw the dollar signs and purchased the company and copyrights for US$25 million. In 1935, The Summy Company registered a copyright for the song without a mention of the dear old Hill sisters. It’s responsible for bringing out the worst in corporate America.
Only in 1912, did the song appear with the lyrics ‘Happy Birthday’ resulting in its universal adoption. They wanted something ‘easy’ for the kids to sing – they were clearly several notes short of an octave. Hill introduced the song “Good Morning to All” to Patty’s kindergarten class in Kentucky. It was never meant to be a birthday song in the first place. Instead, one of the USA’s great leaders came to a sudden end, whilst one of the world’s worst songs continued its meteoric rise to power.Ģ. The song could have retired with him, going out on an unexpected high. JFK was so moved that he joined her on stage and said ‘I can now retire from politics’. On the 19th May 1962, in Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe steamily sang the song to President John F. Only once has the world’s most popular song been sung well. If it wasn’t for a birthday cake at this point the celebration would never get back on track. Everyone is mumbling and hoping for the candles to be blown out to extinguish the torture. Instead, it jumps an octave in ‘birth-day’, assuming we were all raised by a family of acapella singers.īy this stage, it’s not just me that’s wildly out of pitch. The lyrics repeat themselves but the melody doesn’t. Remember, this is meant to be a celebration of the most wonderful event on earth: the miracle of birth!įrom there it goes from bad to worse. A preposition!Īnd as for the chord structure, dear god, that melody is feeble at best and melancholic if you’re being honest. Then the emphasis is clearly on the wrong word: not on ‘happy’, nor ‘birthday’, nor even the all-important ’you’. The first 4 notes are downright depressing, like the distant moan of an old diesel engine warming up. Granted, I’m borderline tone deaf so I may struggle more than most. Let’s start with the most fundamental reason of all.ġ.
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