Editor’s note: This is part 3 of a Christmas week series from local writer Peggy Keener on Christmas carols with research taken from a presentation by Sweet Reads owner Lisa Deyo.

Read part 1 here: The pilot is wearing a red suit

Read part 2 here: Karloff couldn’t sing like Grinch in classic show

“Do You Hear What I Hear” was written in 1962. Since then it has been recorded by various artists more than 100 times and is firmly associated with the Christmas season. But, what you don’t know is that the composers, the husband and wife team of Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne, were enheartened to write the beautiful ballad by a completely different and unexpected event. Would you believe it was because of the existential dread they felt over the Cold War … in particular The Cuban Missile Crisis? It was when this event was in full swing that they wrote their song as a prayer for peace.

I could not go on without saying that such a collaborative plea was surely in the cards for them. How could it not be when their parents named them Noel and Gloria and fate later intervened by bringing them together?

The line they wrote about the star “with a tail as big as a kite” does not, as you may believe, refer to the Star of Bethlehem. Instead it describes the tail of a missile! Imagine, if you can, the night wind saying to the little lamb who in turn asks the shepherd boy if he saw … a … a … missile? Unimaginable! And how grateful we all are that the words morphed into a star. A star shining over Bethehem.

Noel Regney wrote the lyrics while Gloria Shayne composed the music. Regney said he was inspired to write, “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! Many years later he admitted that neither one of the couple could personally perform the song after it was written because of the emotions it stirred up in them over the Cuban Missile Crisis. “Our little song broke us up,” they explained, “as you must realize there was a real threat of nuclear war at the time.”

The Harry Simeone Chorale (also known for their rendition of “The Little Drummer Boy”) first released the song in November of 1962. In the following month’s time, it sold a staggering 250,000 copies. Since then, it has been sung by musicians too numerous to count. Regney is known to have said that his favorite version was performed by Robert Goulet. When the singer came to the line “Pray for peace, people everywhere,” Goulet almost shouted out the words.

Where are you now, Mr. Goulet, when the world once again needs you to shout out those words?