by Joyce V Harrison

Created on: November 19, 2009

When you read these lyrics, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you," the melody probably plays in your head. The Guinness Book of World Records has named this the most popular song in the English language. Two Kentucky sisters wrote the song in the late 1900's as "Good Morning to You." The Happy Birthday version was originally a second verse by an unknown author when the song was published in 1924. A third sister was responsible for winning the copyright for Mildred and Patty Hill that, under copyright law, remains valid till at least 2030 and earns annual royalties of about $2 million. (http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/birthday.asp).

The American Film Institute named a song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen in 1939 for the Wizard of Oz as its all time greatest. Somewhere Over the Rainbow also ranks as the top song of the century with the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Here's another lyric that you probably know the melody for if you live in the Western world or even in a remote corner. "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way." Jingle Bells" was also written in a past century (1857) by a Boston Sunday School teacher named James Lord Pierpont. (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-19781598.html)

The celebration of the holidays has spawned another of the world's most recognizable popular songs. By record sales, "White Christmas" beats "Jingle Bells." The great American songwriter Irving Berlin composed the song in 1940 even though, being Jewish, he didn't observe Christmas. (But then, Berlin didn't read or write music either.) Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas" on his radio show in 1941, a year before he recorded it and a year before it became part of the soundtrack of "Holiday Inn." Bing's version has sold over 50 million copies!

In this era, if you go by sales, the tribute by Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin to Princess Diana "Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle in the Wind 1997" became a record breaker as the single with the highest certification ever in RIAA history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_si ngles_in_the_United_States

So many more artists have given us songs that have become an indelible part of our culture: the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones to name only a few. The marches of John Philip Sousa continue to be performed by every band in every parade across America. (http://www.dws.org/sousa/works.htm)

Now that the Internet has connected the world, popular songs can come from anywhere around the globe. But we'll probably still be singing "Happy Birthday to you" for generations to come.

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