SONG White ChristmasWRITTEN BY Irving Berlin
PERFORMED BY Bing Crosby
APPEARS ON The 78-rpm soundtrack album for the film Holiday Inn
I know, I know, but somebody had to do it, so I volunteer.
This is the quintessential American Christmas song. Bing Crosby's version of it is the best selling single of all time. Versions ranging from Bing's original to The Drifters to the Mantovani Magic Strings to fer pete's sake Andrea Bocelli blast at you from the sound systems of every shopping mall in the US and Canada.
Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1940, but the circumstances under which it was written changed every time Berlin told the story (typical Berlin behavior!). The first public performance was by Bing Crosby on his The Kraft Music Hall radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. Crosby recorded the song for Decca Records in May of 1942, and was released on July 30 as part of the soundtrack for the movie Holiday Inn, both in the movie and on a 78-rpm album. The song spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard charts in that year. It was re-released for the holiday season in 1945 and 1946, and went back to the top of the charts both times, making it the only single with three separate runs at the top of the US charts.
What's the appeal? Mostly nostalgia. The song was released at a time when many American men were going to war in the South Pacific, and visions of an old-fashioned Christmas complete with snow and sleigh bells and all were bound to appeal to boys and men far from home in conditions the exact opposite of those portrayed in the song. After that it just became a natural part of the Christmas season in the American public venue - on the radio, on TV, and in the movies. I even saw it named in a mystery short story, supposedly playing in the background of a ransom tape sent to the parents of a kidnapped child! Let's face it, this song is mapped into our national DNA.
Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1940, but the circumstances under which it was written changed every time Berlin told the story (typical Berlin behavior!). The first public performance was by Bing Crosby on his The Kraft Music Hall radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. Crosby recorded the song for Decca Records in May of 1942, and was released on July 30 as part of the soundtrack for the movie Holiday Inn, both in the movie and on a 78-rpm album. The song spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard charts in that year. It was re-released for the holiday season in 1945 and 1946, and went back to the top of the charts both times, making it the only single with three separate runs at the top of the US charts.
What's the appeal? Mostly nostalgia. The song was released at a time when many American men were going to war in the South Pacific, and visions of an old-fashioned Christmas complete with snow and sleigh bells and all were bound to appeal to boys and men far from home in conditions the exact opposite of those portrayed in the song. After that it just became a natural part of the Christmas season in the American public venue - on the radio, on TV, and in the movies. I even saw it named in a mystery short story, supposedly playing in the background of a ransom tape sent to the parents of a kidnapped child! Let's face it, this song is mapped into our national DNA.
LYRICS
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten, and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
Naturally, the video selected is the segment from the movie Holiday Inn, with Bing and Marjorie Reynolds, although the singing voice was dubbed in by Martha Mears. Is there anybody in the Western World who hasn't seen this scene at least once? Heh, heh! I doubt it. Have a great holiday, Just A Song contributors and fans!
That was interesting - I never quite understood the background to the song. Seasonal greetings to all those who have brought us Just A Song over the last year - a great addition to blogging.
ReplyDeleteThe version from Holiday Inn is my favorite. Love it when Bing rings the bells with his pipe! You can see Martha Mears perform "My Indiana Home" in Remember the Night, a charming Christmas flick (written by Preston Sturges) in which DA Fred MacMurray takes shoplifter Barbara Stanwyck to Indiana for the holidays. You see, Babs will spend Christmas in jail if Fred doesn't help out and...o.k., it's improbable. But there's no shortage of Sturgis one-liners, plus Sterling Holloway sings "The End of a Perfect Day" (check that out here.)
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