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"The Bells of St. Mary's"
"The Bells of St. Mary's"
	Sheet music cover, 1917
Song
Written	1917
Composer(s)	A. Emmett Adams
Lyricist(s)	Douglas Furber
Audio sample
	1921 recording by Lewis James file; help;

"The Bells of St. Mary's" is a 1917 popular song. The music was written by A. Emmett Adams, the lyrics^[1] by Douglas Furber, following a visit to St. Mary's Church, Southampton, England.^[2] It was published by the London company Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew.

The song was revived in 1945, in the film of the same name, by Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.^[3]

Christmas connection

Due to the inclusion in the 1945 film of a scene featuring a Christmas pageant, both the film and the song have come to be associated with the Christmas season, although the song has no direct lyrical connection with the holiday (and, indeed, refers to the "red leaves" of autumn in the chorus). The Drifters recorded the song as the B-side of their 1954 "White Christmas" single, and several other artists have included it on Christmas albums; examples include Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans (A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, 1963); Andy Williams (Merry Christmas, 1965); Aaron Neville (Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas, 1993); and Sheryl Crow (Home for Christmas, 2008).

In popular culture

A bawdy parody, "The Balls of Sarn't Major",^[4] is based on the song.

The song appears in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. In a skit called "Musical Mice", Ken Ewing (Terry Jones) claims to have trained mice to squeal at the specific pitches necessary to play the song (as he demonstrates with debatable success).^[5]

The Drifters' version is featured in the 1990 movie Goodfellas, in the Christmas Eve scene with Henry Hill and family, and the following scene where Stacks (Samuel L. Jackson) is shot dead by Tommy Devito (Joe Pesci).

This song is also associated with Saint Mary's College (Indiana),^{[citation needed]} Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College,^{[citation needed]} and Saint Mary's College of California.^{[citation needed]}

A version of this song is the anthem of State University of New York Maritime College, whose first training ship was the USS St. Mary's.^{[citation needed]}

This song is the anthem for the Brazilian school Colégio Santa Maria (São Paulo) that was created by American founders.^{[citation needed]}

Notable recorded versions

Frances Alda (1919)^[6]
Chet Atkins (1961) for his album Christmas with Chet Atkins and again (1974) for his album Superpickers.
Mr. Acker Bilk (1967)
Big Bill Bissonnette (1986)
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans (1963) for the album A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector.
Webster Booth (1947)
David Carroll (1958)
Maybelle Carter (1961)
Perry Como (1962)^[7]
Bing Crosby (1945, sung on film soundtrack. Commercial recording made on September 10, 1945, for Decca Records)^[8]
Sheryl Crow (2008) for her album Home for Christmas.
Vic Damone (1991)
The Drifters (1954)
Connie Francis (1959) for her album My Thanks to You.
Neal Hefti and His Orchestra (1957)
Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra (1958)
Don Lee (1957)
Vera Lynn (1938) and again in (1982) for her album Favourite Sacred Songs.^[9]
Gordon MacRae (1959)
Jane Morgan (1961) for her album The Second Time Around.^[10]
Aaron Neville (1993)
Perfume Genius (2012)
Jimmy Preston (1949)
Reno and Smiley (1960)
Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra (1928)
Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra (1945)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1952)
The Tokens (1965)
Kid Thomas Valentine (1960)
Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians (1958)
Andy Williams (1965) for his album Merry Christmas.
Ruby Winters (1967)

References

^ "Song lyric". Lyricsplayground.com. 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
^ Hooper, Brian; Henry, Jeff. "The Bells Of St Mary's". Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
^ Gilliland, John (197X). "Show 15" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries. Track 2.
^ "Song Lyrics with midi and Mp3: The Sarn't Major's Balls". www.traditionalmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
^ "A man with two noses / Musical Mice". Monty Python's Flying Circus Episode 2 Partial Script. Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
^ "Frances Alda (vocalist : soprano vocal)". Discography of American Historical recordings. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
^ "The Bells of St. Mary's". By Request, A Perry Como Discography. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved June 20, 2017.