John Howell wrote:
At 2:29 PM -0500 3/6/07, Raymond Horton wrote:
I understand that the TUNE of "Happy Birthday," that is "Good Morning
To You" - is PD. It's when it's coupled with the words of "Happy
Birthday" that the copyright comes into play, correct? (Louisville
being the home town of the Hill Sisters who wrote this little ditty,
the most often sung tune in the world, I believe.)
Ray Horton
Floyds Knobs, Indiana
Louisville Orchestra
Good Lord!! I drove past Floyds Knobs plenty of times when we lived
in Bloomington, but have never known anyone who actually LIVES there!!
And I'm not the only one! It's a great place to live. When I grew up,
in KY east of Louisville, I was the son of a TV repairman. As a boy,
running around on people's roofs putting up TV antennas, I learned
Floyds Knobs is the place where all the TV transmitters were, since it's
the highest point in the area. Never dreamed I would grow up and buy a
house here.
And you're correct. The tune with the "Good Morning To You" lyric was
from the 1890s or thereabouts. The "Happy Birthday" lyric is from the
1930s, and will remain in copyright until the second coming of Sonny
Bono.
Is it actually used in non-English speaking countries (with suitable
translations, themselves copyrighted, of course)?
John
I'm afraid to admit I may use a few notes of this tune, also, in one
movement of this piece. (Maybe I should just list the tunes I'm going
to leave out?) Haven't found out if Amish sing it on a teen's birthday
yet (I have a "Rumspringa - teens running around" movement planned, with
bits of rock tunes, Amish hymns, other things that would be running
through an Amish teens head after his 16th birthday.) Now you all know
enough to write a third of this piece for me.
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