Good Morning To You: A Song History
"Good Morning To You" is the kindergarten greeting song originally called "Good Morning to All," written by the sisters Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, with Mildred composing the music (helped by Patty) and Patty writing the words.[1] Patty started out in kindergarten work as a teacher and in 1893 became director of the Louisville Free Kindergarten Association.[2] The sisters, who came from Louisville, Kentucky, made the song in the 1890s for Patty's classroom, where she tested their songs on the children and handed back to Mildred for revision any tune that the class found hard to sing because of its range or rhythm.[3] It was printed as "Good-morning to all" in Song Stories for the Kindergarten, issued in Chicago by C. F. Summy with a copyright date of 1893.[4] A handwritten draft found among the Hills' papers at the University of Louisville carries a simpler, narrower melody than the one that became famous.[3]
George Smith, The New Boy, from Illustrated London News, wood engraving, August 13, 1859. A schoolroom scene, shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.
The same melody later carried the words of "Happy Birthday to You."[2] In 1893 the sisters assigned their rights in the manuscript containing the song to Clayton F. Summy, and in the 1980s Warner/Chappell Music began collecting "Happy Birthday" royalties after buying Birch Tree Group, the successor to the Summy company.[1][5] On September 22, 2015, Chief Judge George H. King of the federal court for the Central District of California ruled in Rupa Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music that, because the Summy company never acquired rights to the birthday lyrics, Warner/Chappell and its co-defendant Summy-Birchard, as the company's purported successors, did not own a valid copyright in those lyrics.[1] His order also noted that both sides agreed the shared melody had "entered the public domain a long time ago."[1] In June 2016 King approved a settlement under which Warner/Chappell agreed to repay $14 million in licensing fees and the birthday song would be placed in the public domain.[6] Legal scholar Robert Brauneis, whose 2009 article argued that the song had almost certainly fallen out of copyright, says that article inspired the lawsuit.[7][8] Brauneis's online archive for the article also posts scores and recordings of several songs he lists as alleged predecessors of "Good Morning to All," among them "Good Night To You All" and "Happy Greeting to All."[8]
Judy House includes "Good Morning To You" in Beginning Lessons For The Mountain Dulcimer, a 112-page textbook for newcomers to the mountain dulcimer that takes them through 14 beginning lessons in strumming, fretting, counting and playing familiar tunes.[9]
Sources
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California (via Electronic Frontier Foundation): "Marya v. Warner/Chappell Music, Memorandum and Order Re: Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment (Sept. 22, 2015)".
- Britannica: "Patty Smith Hill".
- NPR: "An Unknown, Easier 'Happy Birthday' Is Revealed in Mildred Hill's Papers".
- The Morgan Library & Museum: "Song Stories for the Kindergarten".
- MPR News / NPR: "Happy Birthday to Us All: Judge Rules Song in Public Domain".
- KSHB / Associated Press: "Judge Approves Settlement in 'Happy Birthday' Copyright Case".
- SSRN: "Robert Brauneis, Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song".
- Robert Brauneis: "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song" (document archive).
- Judy House: "Beginning Lessons For The Mountain Dulcimer".
- Image: George Smith, The New Boy, from Illustrated London News, wood engraving, August 13, 1859. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.