The most sung song in the world

October 13 is the day when the tune Happy Birthday To You was copyrighted in 1893. Trivia on the oldest tune that we continue to harp about

It's the occasion when even the musically challenged among us will deign to clear their throats and launch an aural attack on the hapless soul standing in the centre of the circle. The guy who must believe that he too, as Gloria Gaynor assured millions of heartbroken women the world over, 'will survive' -- listening to a tuneless rendition of Happy Birthday To You.



Sisters Patty Hill and Mildred J Hill of Kentucky, USA, could never have anticipated that introducing the song 'Good Morning to All' to Patty's kindergarten class would someday contribute to the world's most sung song in the world. The song proved so popular with the students that it is alleged that they took to singing it on birthdays, changing the lyrics to 'Happy Birthday'. The sisters went on to publish the tune in their book called Song Stories for the Kindergarten.

The tune for the song is likely to have been inspired from other songs at the time, including Horace Waters' 'Happy Greetings to All', and 'A Happy New Year to All'.

Bollywood calling
"The first song that pops into my mind when it comes to birthday dedications is 'Hum Bhi Agar Bacche Hote' from the 1964 Bollywood film Door Ki Aawaz," says Meetu Sharma, music manager, Radio One.
The other popular Hindi film song with Happy Birthday in its lyrics is legendary playback singer Mohammed Rafi's, 'Baar Baar Din Yeh Aaye' from Farz Ki Jung (1989).

"There are very few songs these days with the lyrics 'Happy Birthday'. There are more songs picturised on festivals, including Janmashtami and Holi," says Tulika Mehrotra, producer, Radio One.

Not just in Bollywood, there are less than a handful of English songs with the same lyrics. Says Mani Naidu of music store Rhythm House, "We have a remix CD called Happy Birthday Dance Beats by Harry Anand, which was released in 1997. We have a few nursery rhyme collections that feature the song. But apart from that, nobody really makes it anymore."

So, there might be no escaping from tuneless renditions of the song sung by colleagues, family and friends, year after year. It's best to join in and contribute to the off-key mayhem, because the birthday song seems here to stay.