Do You Hear What I Hear?

Synopsis

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" tells a story loosely based upon the story of the Nativity of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew, incorporating fragments of the annunciation to the shepherds from the Gospel of Luke, though Jesus is never mentioned by name or explicitly identified. A "night wind" tells a lamb of a star, following which the lamb tells his young shepherd that he also hears a loud song. They are each led to a "mighty king," whom they tell of a child in the cold and ask to bring the child silver and gold (much as the Biblical Magi, which are often characterized as kings, did with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh). The king proclaims a prayer of peace and announces that the child will "bring goodness and light".

Lyrics

Regney wrote the lyrics for the song, while Shayne composed the music in October 1962. This was an unusual arrangement for the two writers. Usually, it was Shayne who wrote the lyrics for their songs while Regney composed the music, as they did when they wrote a song based on the classic children's song "Rain, Rain, Go Away".

Regney was inspired to write the lyrics "Said the night wind to the little lamb, 'Do you see what I see?'" and "Pray for peace, people everywhere" after watching babies being pushed in strollers on the sidewalks of New York City. Shayne stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis: "Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of war at the time".

Recordings

Original

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" was released shortly after Thanksgiving in 1962. The song was originally recorded for Mercury Records by the Harry Simeone Chorale, a group that had also popularized "The Little Drummer Boy", and released as part of the album The Wonderful Songs of Christmas with the Harry Simeone Chorale. As a 45 rpm single, it went on to sell more than a quarter-million copies during the 1962 Christmas holiday season.

Bing Crosby made the song into a hit when he recorded his own version of it on October 21, 1963, with the record being released as a single on October 26. Crosby also performed the song on a Bob Hope Christmas television special on December 13 of that year. Over the years, Crosby's recording of the song has been widely played on the radio and has been available on numerous compilation Christmas albums and compact discs put out by Capitol Records.

Cover versions

The song has been recorded by hundreds of artists. Among the most notable are:

• Andy Williams (1965 - Merry Christmas)
• Pat Boone (1966 - Christmas Is A Comin')
• Kate Smith
• Diahann Carroll (1967 – The Great Songs of Christmas, Album Seven)
• Jim Nabors (1967 - Jim Nabors' Christmas Album)
• Perry Como
• Robert Goulet (1968 - Robert Goulet's Wonderful World of Christmas)
• Mahalia Jackson
• Johnny Mathis (1969 - Give Me Your Love for Christmas)
• Whitney Houston
• Bob Dylan (2009 - Christmas in the Heart)

Regney said that his favorite version of the song was performed by Robert Goulet; as The New York Times noted, when the singer came to the line "pray for peace, people everywhere", he "almost shouted the words".

Charts

Whitney Houston version

• A&M Studios (Hollywood, CA)
• Reflection Sound Studios (Charlotte, NC)

Houston originally recorded the song as part of the various-artists compilation A Very Special Christmas in 1987, omitting the first verse. In 1995, Houston included the song in her CD single for her number one single, "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". Her version peaked at the top of Billboard Gospel Digital Songs and Gospel Streaming Songs on 2011 and 2018 and stayed for a record 42 weeks on the former while 30 weeks on the latter.

When the song topped the former chart, it made Houston one of the few artists to score a number one Billboard single in four decades. When she topped the same chart with the song for the week of December 5, 2020, Houston became one of the few to have entered number one on a Billboard chart for five.

On October 25, 2019, Pentatonix released their cover version featuring Houston's vocals, as part of the group's compilation album The Best of Pentatonix Christmas. The Pentatonix version would go on to peak at number 9 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, making it Houston's 25th Top 10 single on the chart.

Weekly charts

Whitney Houston with Pentatonix version

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

References

1. Noland, Claire. (2008-03-15). "Pianist wrote music for holiday song". [[Los Angeles Times]].
2. Fox, Margalit. (2008-03-11). "Gloria Shayne Baker, Composer and Lyricist, Dies at 84". [[The New York Times]].
3. Richard W. O’Donnell. (2016-08-30). "'Do You Hear What I Hear?': The Story Behind the Song". Franciscan Media.
4. "A Bing Crosby Discography - Part 4a - Song Index".
5. (1966 - ''The Kate Smith Christmas Album'')Smith, Kate. "The Kate Smith Christmas Album". RCA/Sony Music Distribution. 28 November 1966. https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-kate-smith-christmas-album-mw0000613874
6. Douglas Martin: [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/nyregion/noel-regney-songwriter-known-for-do-you-hear-what-i-hear-is-dead-at-80.html ''Noel Regney, Songwriter Known for ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ Is Dead at 80''.] [[The New York Times. NYTimes.com]], December 1, 2012, last access Dec. 25, 2017.
7. "Whitney Houston - Exhale (Shoop Shoop)". [[Discogs]].
8. (November 28, 2020). "Gospel Digital Song Sales (week of November 28, 2020)".
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