Yes, it’s been a rough week for President Obama. A bitter debt ceiling deal here, a stock market plunge there. But the President does have one thing to celebrate today: his 50th birthday. We at The Last Word had hoped to sing the world’s best known song marking the anniversary of one’s birth for the president on our show, but something has stopped us dead in our tracks: Mildred and Patty Hill.
The Hills were kindergarten teachers in Louisville, KY. In 1893, they wrote a song with a now-familiar tune called “Good Morning to All.” While there are varying theories on how the song’s lyrics were changed, the tune was copyrighted in 1935. Today it is owned by Warner/Chappell, a Warner Music label.
According to our friends at ABC, we could end up shelling out upwards of $30,000 for the privilege of playing it on TV. So instead, we’ll simply offer our salutations here. We hope the president finds the week of his 51st birthday a bit more mellow, but since that will be smack dab in the middle of campaign season, we aren’t holding our breath.
Ethan Harp