Sunday, January 18, 2009

best nine inch nails songs presents Most Popular Birthday Song Comes With a Price

It's really hard to go to a birthday these days and not join in on a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday to You," arguably the most popular birthday song in history.





But did you know that you're violating copyright with your "public" performance of this classic?





Yes, it's true. 'Happy Birthday to You" is still under copyright protection. In fact, Warner Communications owns it. In 1988 they bought the rights to it and a bunch of other songs for a cool $25 million.





According to Time magazine, it 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 history of the song is pretty interesting. It was written by the Hill sisters - Mildred and Patty. The original version was a classroom greeting song called "Good Morning to All." The two sisters were educators and they published the song in 1893.





However, the sisters never copyrighted the song. It wasn't until Jessica Hill, another sister, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Hills. It seems the melody that was appropriated for "Happy Birthday to You" was actually the melody to the "Good Morning to You" song Mildred and Patty had written.





No one really knows who created the words for the birthday version we all sing. But the song was finally granted copyright protection in 1935 and has been sold and resold many times since. For their investment, Warner Communications gets about $2 million in royalties a year from recordings and public performances of the song.





If you're looking for the perfect birthday song, check out iTunes sometime. When you perform a search for "Happy Birthday" you'll get 150 choices back, from the classic to the slighty ribald.





One of our own favorites doesn't show up on iTunes, because of an ongoing battle between Apple computer and the Apple record label.





It's The Beatles performing "Birthday" on the White Album. Don't know it? Sure you do...





You say it's your birthday,





It's my birthday too - yeah





They say it's your birthday





We're gonna have a good time...





The song was inspired by a 1957 Tuneweavers hit, "Happy, Happy Birthday." Paul McCartney wanted to get back to their rock 'n' roll roots after their travels to India. So they cranked out this version on Sept. 18, 1968. After getting stuck on the lyrics, they took a little break to watch "The Girl Can't Help It," which featured music by Fats Domino, Little Richard and Gene Vincent. Inspiration hit them during the movie and they finished the recording by 11 p.m.





Of course, there's modern versions of "Happy Birthday to You" as well, sung by everyone from Weird Al Yankovic and The Monkees to Barney. And who can forget Neil Sedaka's classic, "Happy Birthday Sweet 16"?





So, go forth and sing - even if it's just "Happy Birthday to You." Just be sure a Warner Communications executive isn't in the room with you, waiting for his royalty check.


Barry Mcgee writes articles on birthday party and gift ideas and all things related to birthdays. You can read more of Barry's articles at HappiestBirthday.com

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