From 16 to 28 October 1962 the people of the world, especially of North America looked to the Caribbean and held their breath. Soviet missiles with potential to carry nuclear warheads had been emplaced in Cuba and a Cold War standoff threatened a doomsday scenario. The Cuban Missile Crisis caused a good deal of introspection all around.
Nuclear war was no longer abstract but nigh concrete and art reflected that sentiment. “Dr. Strangelove” was generated at the time and hit the theaters in 1964. In the moment the message of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” struck a chord while the phrase “Duck and Cover” gained a new resonance.
A songwriting team comprised of an antifascist lyricist and former fighter in the French Resistance and a piano-playing friend of the Kennedys joined forces - moved by the precariousness of humanity that fall — to write a Christmas Classic — “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Married in 1952 in New York City, Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne, the duo wrote tunes recorded by Perry Como, Doris Day, Bobby Vinton, and James Darren among others. Significantly, while both performed from time to time, they both confessed that “Do You Hear What I Hear?” wrought too much emotion for them to perform it themselves.
Said the night wind to the little lamb
Do you see what I see?
(Do you see what I see?)
Way up in the sky, little lamb
Do you see what I see?
(Do you see what I see?)
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
(Do you hear what I hear?)
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I know? (Do you know what I know?)
In your palace warm, mighty king
Do you know what I know? (Do you know what I know?)
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Said the king to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say! (Listen to what I say!)
Pray for peace, people, everywhere
Listen to what I say! (Listen to what I say!)
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light
Regney and Shayne’s favorite version was performed by Robert Goulet.
Here’s that version (It is good - and unique)..
Merry Christmas.
