在本栏目我们回顾历史上本周发生的历史事件——《祝你生日快乐》，听听下面的短文，做做下面的练习，学习一些相关的英语表达形式。
本周是3月5日至3月11日历史上发生的事件。 | | On the 4th of March 1924 "Happy Birthday to You", the most well-known song in the English speaking world, was first published. However the origins of this simple song date back to 1893 when it was written as a simple classroom ditty by two teachers at the Louisville, Kentucky Experimental Kindergarten. Mildred Hill composed the melody and her sister Patty wrote the lyrics as "Good Morning to All." It was a simple greeting song for teachers to welcome their students.
"Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning dear children
Good morning to all" |
|
It was published in the songbook "Song Stories for the Kindergarten" in 1893. What exactly happened next is unclear but it emerged in March 1924 in a songbook edited by Robert Coleman, with the "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics. In the 1930s "Happy Birthday" became popular through Broadway musicals, "The Band Wagon" and "As Thousands Cheer." Jessica Hill, a third Hill sister administered the copyright to "Good Morning to All" and demonstrated the similarities between it and "Happy Birthday to You" in court. Jessica secured the copyright in 1934 unfortunately too late for her sister Mildred who had died in 1916.
In 1988, Birch Tree Group Ltd, the original publishers, sold the rights of the song, and all their other assets, to Warner Communications for an estimated 25 million dollars. During the 1980s the song was believed to generate about 1 million dollars in royalties annually.
Along with "Auld Lang Syne", which is sung at midnight on New Year's Eve and "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" sung to celebrate someone's achievement, it is among the three most popular songs in the English language.
These days the song continues to bring in around 2 million dollars in licensing revenue each year and the copyright will remain intact until at least 2030.
|
|
>
|
| |
|
|
|
|
京公网安备 11011202003401号
