Do You Hear What I Hear

Year: 1962

Written By: Noel Regney,Gloria Shayne Baker

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No other Christmas song can bring a lump to your throat or a tear to your eye like Do you hear what I hear. Not only is it a poignant Christmas song but the reason it was written can give one chills if you stop long enough to think about it.

Do you hear what I hear was written by a married couple in Oct. 1962. Noel Regney wrote the lyrics and his then wife Gloria Shayne Baker took care of the music. The song was written as a plea for peace during the Cuban missile crisis. Baker has stated in interviews that neither she nor her husband could sing the song at the time without breaking down. You had to remember the world was under threat of a nuclear war.

Do you hear what I hear was released shortly after Thanksgiving in that same year and sand by the Harry Simone Chorale. It went on to sell a whopping quarter million copies in the Christmas season of 1962. Even then, the song really didn't gain popularity until Bing Crosby remade the song and made it his own on Oct. 13, 1963. The song was released as a single five days later and was broadcast on TV on December 13^th with Bing singing it on the Bob Hope Christmas special. Bing Crosby's version of Do you hear what I hear has sold over one million copies and is still heard on the radio today during the holiday season.

The song has since been recorded by such popular artist as Perry Como, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Destiny's Child and Vanessa Williams just to name a few.

However, most people although touched by Do you hear what I hear don't truly get the meaning behind the lyrics. Many think that the song has been around for years but such is not the case. The song was written when the world had pretty much lost all hope and was in very frightening times. It was intended to ask for peace and to remind the world of why the baby Jesus was born and what he did for all of us. In those trying times when everyone was reaching out for a calming presence the release of Do you hear what I hear did just that. It helped to calm a chaotic world. In today's chaotic world, you can be sure that when the holidays roll around again many will be listening to the old favorite and seeing it in a different way.