Irving Berlin, White Christmas

White Christmas, written by Irving Berlin, 1888-1989, in 1941, sold up to 30 million copies worldwide and once it was adapted by Bing Crosby it was and still is known as the bestselling single of all times; Crosby’s version sold up to 50 million copies worldwide. It stayed top on the ‘Pop and R&B’ charts of America for 10 weeks. To this day Berlin’s version has sold an estimated of 100 million copies.

This song was released when WWII was happening and the imagery it used really touched many hearts. As said by Stephen Holden "the song also evokes a pure childlike longing for roots, home and childhood—that goes way beyond the greeting imagery."  Ref: ‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin’ 

The imagery he used in the song, ‘Where the treetops glisten,’ describes and sets the scene very well, rather than telling what is happening he is showing it very clearly. Although the song only has thirteen very short lines, it still captured many hearts with the soft music and meaningful lyrics.

For the music Berlin didn’t use any chord progression technique, he used up to seven chords; G, Am, D, C, D7, Cm and Em. For most of his songs he used very different types of chords and they always varied compared to the song type. Berlin did not learn to make music; he just wrote lyrics and added music which to him fit best. ‘I never have, because if I don't know them I do not have to observe any rules and can do as I like, which is much better for me than if I allowed myself to be governed by the rules of versification. In following my own method I can make my jingles fit my music or vice versa with no qualms as to their correctness. Usually I compose my tunes and then fit words to them, though sometimes it's the other way about,’ said by Berlin when he was asked if he had ever studied lyrical writing.                                                                 Ref: ‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Berlin’

The lyrical meaning of the song is the reason the song was and still is so famous to this day. It creates an image of peace which is desired by all, Berlin did a very good job of bringing out the childhood memories of many.

Afsheen Butt