So, what’s behind a song? A man comes to America, writes a poem and falls
in love with a musician.
Always fascinated by the person behind the
writing.
Noël Regnei
Noël Regnei
The
Man Behind The Song, Do You Hear What I
Hear
A man falls in love with a woman who
writes music and he….
Noël Regnei was born in Strasbourg, Alsac,
France. He was drafted into the Nazi army despite being a Frenchman. As an
Alsatian, he spoke the German dialect, Alsatian, as fluently as he did French.
It is told that he soon deserted, joined a group of French Resistance
fighters, and became a double agent for the French. He led a group of Nazis
into an ambush, was shot in the arm, but survived.
Already reading this history I’m fascinated! This
man loved poetry and music and he wanted to write it. Here are amazing facts about him:
Noël
Regnei came to the United States after World War II and wandered into New
York’s Beverly Hotel. There, in a luxurious dining room, he saw a beautiful
woman playing music on the piano.
He
was smitten by her, Gloria Shayne, and though he spoke little English he
managed to woo her well. Within one month they were married.
He fought depression, brought on by flashbacks to his own days as a Nazi soldier,
and then as a resistance fighter. He wanted to write something that would bring
him peace of mind. He hated war and the devastation it brings.
He was inspired to write a poem about the first Christmas, recalling his own
memories of sheep walking through beautiful fields in his native France.
He
asked his wife, Gloria, to write the music for it.
The
couple took the song to the Regent Publishing Company, owned by the brothers of
the big band leader, Benny Goodman.
Regent
heard it and right away contacted Harry Simeone, who had scored a huge success
with Little Drummer Boy. The Harry
Simeone Chorale recorded the touching work.
So how did our nation
respond to this song?
Could this carol’s
combination of words and music powerfully voice the nation’s desire for its
prayers to be answered?
Newspapers stories of
that time wrote that drivers hearing it for the first
time on the radio pulled
their cars off the road to listen.
And which version of
the song touched the writers of this song the most?
Gloria Shayne said it
was Robert Goulet’s version: “When Robert Goulet came to the line, ‘Pray for
peace people everywhere,’ he almost shouted those words out. It was so
powerful.”
Noël Regney went on to
write other songs including, Rain, Rain,
Go Away, Sweet Little Darlin’ and
What’s The Use of Crying. He died on
November 22, 2002, of complications from Pick’s disease.
Information from the book, Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, by Ace Collins. And Wikipedia.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
do you see what I see
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
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
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
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
In your palace warm, mighty king,
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
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
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
