When a Child Is Born facts for kids
"When A Child Is Born" is a very popular Christmas song. Its beautiful melody first appeared in 1974 as a tune called "Soleado". This melody was created by Ciro Dammicco (also known as Zacar) and Dario Baldan Bembo from Italy.
A few years later, Fred Jay wrote the English language words for the song. Interestingly, these words don't actually mention Christmas directly! Many singers have performed Fred Jay's version. The first was Michael Holm in 1974. But the most famous version was sung by Johnny Mathis in 1976. His recording became the number one song in the UK during Christmas that year.
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About the Song's History
The original melody, "Soleado," was used in a 1975 Argentinean film called Nazareno Cruz y el lobo, which means The Love of the Wolf. It was even called "Theme From the Motion Picture 'The Love of the Wolf'" on Johnny Mathis's album Johnny Mathis Sings the Movie Greats.
Many artists have sung "When A Child Is Born" or "Soleado." Some of them include:
- Boney M. on their 1981 Christmas Album
- Bing Crosby on his 1976 album Beautiful Memories
- Lutricia McNeal, whose version was popular in the UK in 1998
- G4
- Sarah Brightman on her 2008 holiday CD A Winter Symphony
- Charlotte Church on her 2000 holiday CD Dream a Dream
- Il Divo on their 2005 album The Christmas Collection
- Willie Nelson
- Connie Talbot, who included it on her 2008 Connie Talbot's Christmas Album
- Joe McElderry for his album Classic Christmas
- Mark 'Oh who used the melody for his 1994 dance hit Tears Don't Lie
Johnny Mathis's Famous Version
Quick facts for kids "When A Child Is Born" |
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| Single by Johnny Mathis | ||||
| from the album I Only Have Eyes for You | ||||
| A-side | "When A Child Is Born (Soleado)" | |||
| B-side | "Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)" | |||
| Released | November 1976 | |||
| Recorded | 1976 | |||
| Genre | Easy listening popular Christmas song | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ciro Dammicco, Dario Baldan Bembo (music) | |||
| Producer(s) | Jack Gold | |||
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The most well-known version of "When A Child Is Born" is probably the one sung by Johnny Mathis. This version was produced by Jack Gold. It was released in November 1976.
Johnny Mathis's song became his only number one single in the UK Singles Chart. It stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks in December 1976. This included the very special Christmas number one spot. It sold 885,000 copies in the UK.
In the United States, Mathis's version appeared on the music charts in both the 1976 and 1977 Christmas seasons. Later, Mathis recorded the song again as a duet with Gladys Knight and the Pips.
Different Language Versions
The melody of "Soleado" has been used for songs in many different languages around the world. Often, the new lyrics tell a completely different story from the English Christmas song.
- In 1974, Manolo Otero sang the melody with Spanish words. His song was called "Todo el tiempo del mundo" (meaning "All The Time Of The World").
- Michael Holm used the melody for his German song "Tränen lügen nicht" (meaning "Tears Don't Lie") in 1974. This German song is not about Christmas at all. It's about someone asking a person to think again before breaking up, because "tears don't lie." Michael Holm later recorded an English version of "Tränen lügen nicht" called "When a child is born." This version was a small hit in the US.
- In 1975, Mireille Mathieu sang the melody with French lyrics. Her song was "On ne vit pas sans se dire adieu" (meaning "We can't go on living without our saying farewell"). The lyrics told a story about a 16-year-old girl whose love was not approved by her boyfriend's father.
- The song was sung with Hungarian lyrics by Zsuzsa Cserháti. Her version was called "Édes kisfiam" ("My sweet son"). The lyrics were written for her in 1975 after her son was born.
- Turkish singer Nese Karabocek sang the song in Turkish language. It was titled "Gozyaslari yalan soylemez" (Tears don't lie).
- Czech singer Karel Gott sang it with lyrics by Zdeněk Borovec. His song was "Měl jsem rád a mám" ("I loved and I still do"). In this song, the singer remembers his old girlfriends.
- The Polish band Perfect sang it with Polish language lyrics called "Bóg narodzi się."
- Vera Lynn sang an English version in 1975 with different lyrics. Her song was called "There Comes a Day."
- In 1978, Hong Kong singer Roman Tam used the music to create a song called "Love at Tomorrow."
- In 1981, Spanish singer Mari Trini used the melody for her song "Te amaré, Te amo y Te querré" (meaning "I'll love you, I love you and I'll love you").
- In Latvia, the song with different lyrics is called "Viens noburts vārds."
- In Denmark, the group Bamses Venner sang "Tårer Taler Sandt" (meaning "Tears Speak The Truth").
- There are at least two well-known versions of this song in Finnish.
- The first Finnish version, "Lähdit taakse pilvien" (meaning "you left behind of the clouds"), was released in 1976. This version is not about Christmas. Instead, it talks about death and missing someone.
- The other Finnish version is called "Jos joulu jää sydämeen" (meaning "if Christmas stays in the heart"). It was released in 1989 and is about Christmas and peace.
See also
- In Spanish: When a child is born para niños
