"Happy Birthday to You" (Happy Birthday to You), often referred to as "Happy Birthday" or "Birthday Song", is a popular song used to celebrate birthdays. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday" is one of the three most popular songs in the English language, along with "Auld Lang Syne" and "For He's" a Jolly Good Fellow). The song has been translated into many languages, although its English lyrics are often sung in countries where English is not the primary language.
The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" was composed by two American Hill sisters, Patty Smith Hill and Mildred J. Hill, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA in 1893. It was written when I was teaching in school. The song's lyrics were originally intended for use as a classroom greeting, titled "Good Morning to All."
The lyrics of "Happy Birthday to You" were copyrighted by Summy Company in 1935, and the copyright will expire in 2030. This is the first copyrighted lyric. In 1990, Summy was acquired by Warner Records for US$15 million, of which the value of "Happy Birthday to You" was estimated at US$5 million.
Although the current copyright status of the song is unclear, Warner claims that it is technically illegal to perform the song in public without permission unless royalties are paid to them. It's not entirely clear who actually wrote the lyrics to "Happy Birthday to You."
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Creation background
The prototype of "Happy Birthday to You" is a song called "Good Morning to Everyone" (Good Morning to All), written by the Hill sisters (Mildred J. Hill & Patty Smith), has catchy lyrics: ?Good Morning to All/ Good Morning to All/ Goodmorning dear children/Good morning to all?. The Hill sisters were kindergarten teachers at the time, and "Good Morning Everyone" was originally a song sung by teachers and students to greet each other in the morning. In the opinion of Professor Blones, the melody they came up with is very original, and the song is also very suitable for children's singing ability and appreciation taste: it has only one octave, one long scale, and only two points. notes and quarter notes. For this reason alone, I think the copyright of this song is worth protecting. ?
This achievement of the Hill sisters was no accident. They are not the kind of ordinary female teachers who can only play the piano and sing. They are more like a well-trained creative team. Their sister Mildred (1859-1916) is responsible for composing the music, and her sister Patty (1868-1946) writes the lyrics. Together they experimented with new songs in the classroom to see if they were popular with the children. Mildred later became a pioneer in ethnomusicology, and Patty later became an education expert at Columbia University, enjoying a high reputation. On June 12, 1896, the sisters became members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame of the American Academy of Popular Music.
"Good Morning to All" was officially published in 1893 and printed in "Song Stories for the Kindergarten" (Song Stories for the Kindergarten) published by the Hill sisters themselves. The first printed version of "Happy Birthday to You" that retained the melody but replaced the lyrics was in 1912 (this version probably existed before 1912). This song was already very popular in the 1930s, but no one came forward to say that the lyrics and melody were composed by themselves, and there was no signature when it was printed and published. It took several lawsuits before the Hill sisters' identities as creators became known.
In 1934, the Broadway stage play "As Thousands Cheer" used "Happy Birthday to You" in a scene. The Hill sisters filed a lawsuit, pointing out that "Happy Birthday to You" was A variation of "Good Morning to All," and the stage play owed them more than $100,000 in royalties? The creator of that stage play, Irving Berlin, may not have known that the melody of "Good Morning to All" was copyrighted at the time. . In 1935, Sum My Company registered the copyright of the song and signed the name of the famous composer Preston Ware Orem (1865~1938), saying that it was a song he was hired to write. Afterwards, the sisters went to court again, and both lawsuits were settled out of court.
However, the lawsuits of the Hill sisters cleverly avoided the song "Happy Birthday to You" itself, but limited it to the melody, and according to research by Professor Blones, the sisters Neither of them ever claimed that "Happy Birthday to You" was written by them.
As for when and who wrote the lyrics for this variant song, Professor Blones has been unable to draw a clear conclusion by looking through a large number of old papers and using Internet search engines such as Google Books and Google News. The earliest record that can be found is the January 1900 issue of "Educator Journal", which mentions the unsigned lyrics of "Good Morning Everyone", and then mentions that everyone was in? A special What occasion? Sing this variation of "Happy Birthday to You" together. It is certain that this article was printed before January 1900, so Professor Brones believes that the birth of this song can finally be dated to the 19th century. There is a saying that children like this song very much and sing it everywhere, changing the lyrics. They also sing it on birthdays, but change it to the words "Happy Birthday". From this point of view, this song is better because of its simple melody with little ups and downs. It is easy to change it to other lyrics, and children with strong imitation ability can easily put it to use.
Song lyrics
English lyrics
Below are the most common versions.
Version 1
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday to you
Version 2
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Version 3
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear ___ ( Name)
Happy birthday to you
Chinese lyrics
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to You
Song Controversy
Warner Purchase
Warner/Chapelle Music Company purchased the copyright to the classic song "Happy Birthday to You" in 1988 , from then on, the use of this song in film and television works, radio stations and various public occasions will have to pay. Any manufacturer of toys or music greeting cards that can play the song will have to pay. Even when someone sings the song, as long as he is present Even if there are a certain number of listeners who are not relatives or friends, they also have to pay. Every year, Warner can receive US$2 million in royalties for this song.
In the United States, not to mention singers, even restaurant employees usually only shout "Happy Birthday" when celebrating a customer's birthday and rarely sing to avoid infringement. It is said that singing "Happy Birthday to You" in a movie costs about US$10,000. Therefore, most movies only have one line of birthday songs, or simply use other songs instead. Only in "Batman Begins," a movie funded by Warner itself, was this song rarely sung in its entirety.
Although the current copyright status of the song is unclear decades after the death of the original songwriter, Warner claims that it is technically illegal to play the song in public without permission. Unless royalties are paid to them.
After Warner claimed that it was technically illegal to play the song in public without permission unless royalties were paid to them, people were still willing to use it sparingly and be simple about the song. However, copyright fees are paid for the songs. Rather than saying this is abiding by the law, it is better to say that the entire society is expressing great respect for music copyright.