If you were to publicly perform or record “Happy Birthday” or “Danny Boy” you would owe someone some money. Maybe. It’s a little unclear.
According to Wikipedia, the melody of "Happy Birthday to You" was written in Louisville, Kentucky by sisters and teachers; Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill in 1893.
You could just imagine the very morning they in greeted their classroom to a little tune entitled "Good Morning to All". Sadly, we don’t know who wrote the lyrics to the song as we know it today, and so, the the heirs of the lyricist missing in action will never see their due!
The version as we know it was copyrighted in 1935 and was purchased by Warner Chappell in 1990 for US$15 million! With the value of "Happy Birthday" estimated at US $5 million, some musician and his/her heirs definitely missed out on a nice check.
While the current copyright status of the song is unclear, Warner claims that unauthorized public performances of the song are technically illegal unless royalties are paid to it.
In contrast, the mystery of the well known song Danny Boy has indeed been solved. Or has it? A very interesting read by Michael Robinson who reveals that the song Danny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to the same tune.
According to Wikipedia, the root of the tune Danny Boy begins with a song titled Londonderry Air. Should Londonderry Air be the melody that carries over 100 songs, surely we should be giving huge credit to its composer. Unfortunately, this great melody and its original composer is still shrouded in a cloud of mystery.
What is known for certain, is that the lyrics of Danny Boy were originally written for a different tune in 1910 by an English lawyer, Frederick Weatherly. It’s interesting to note that that the songwriter never actually visited Ireland, yet the tune would become a national anthem for the Irish.
Weatherly modified the lyrics to fit Londonderry Air’s melody in 1913. The English lawyer saw fit to give the tune to an Opera singer by the name of Elsie Griffen, and later to a British Shakspearean actress by the name of Ellen Terry. And so Danny Boy was in the midst of becoming a legend.
From Opera, to an actress’ requiem, the song endures the test of time with musical icons of every genre keeping Danny Boy alive including one of the master originators of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley, the great jazz pianist Bill Evans and the pop culture diva Sinéad O'Connor.
One great thing about this tune, if you were to record it, you wouldn’t owe anyone a dime. It’s one of the great tunes that is in the Public Domain.
One has to wonder if Warner Chappel purchased Happy Birthday for 15 million, how much they would have shelled out for Danny Boy? The lost heirs of the musician who composed Londonderry Air, stand to be very proud of their musical heritage because it is indeed a great song, one which is loved by millions.
Paul Tobey has performed Happy Birthday and
Danny Boy on countless occassions. If you want to learn how to do it yourself visit his
piano lessons web page.
