"Dear Hearts and Gentle People" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song published in 1949 with music by Sammy Fain and

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: "Alice in Wonderland", "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", " Dear Hearts and Gentle ...

. The song refers to the singer's hometown, and different versions allude to a range of

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Background

The songwriters were inspired to write the song based on a scrap of paper with the words "Dear friends and gentle hearts" written on it that was found on the body of

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

when he was discovered dying in a New York hotel room in January 1864.

1949 recordings

Popular versions were recorded in 1949 by: *The

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

recording was recorded on September 9, 1949, and released by Columbia Records (as catalog number 38605). This version alludes to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Shore's home state. The recording first appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts on November 19, 1949, lasting 17 weeks and peaking at position number two. *The

Gordon MacRae Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals ''Oklahoma!'' (1955) and '' Carousel'' (1956) and who p ...

recording was recorded on October 21, 1949, and released by Capitol Records (as catalog number 777). It peaked at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The flip side was "

Mule Train "Mule Train" is a popular song written by Johnny Lange, Hy Heath, Ramblin' Tommy Scott and Fred Glickman. It is a cowboy song, with the singer filling the role of an Old West wagon driver, spurring on his team of mules pulling a delivery wagon. ...

," which MacRae recorded October 1, 1949. *The Bing Crosby recording was recorded on October 26, 1949, and released by Decca Records (as catalog number 24798). This version mentions the state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, close to Crosby's hometown of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

. The flip side was "

". The recording first appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts on December 3, 1949, lasting 17 weeks and peaking at number two. *The

Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York City, the ...

recording was released by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

as a 78rpm single (catalog number 20-3596), and as a 45rpm single (catalog number 47-3102). The recording first appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts on January 14, 1950, lasting four weeks and peaking at number 14.

Other recordings

*A Doreen Lundy recording was recorded on February 22, 1950, and released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

's UK Columbia Records label (as catalog number DB 2649). *The song was performed by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in the 1950

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

film ''Beyond the Purple Hills''. *The Perry Como recording of April 23, 1959, was released as a track on the album ''

Como Swings ''Como Swings'' was Perry Como's fifth RCA Victor 12" long-play album, released in 1959. The album's concept was one of lively swing arrangements by Joe Lipman of standards from the Great American Songbook. The album was, in part, recorded to ...

'' (catalog number LSP-2010). The Como recording of July 1980, from a live performance, was released on the album ''Perry Como Live on Tour'' in 1981 (catalog number AQL1-3826). *A version recorded by

Bob Crosby and the Bobcats George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

was featured in three hit video games of the Fallout Franchise, ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'' ''

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for PlayStation 4, ...

'', and ''

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. ''Fallout 76'' is Bethesda ...

'', published by Bethesda Softworks. *The British vocal group

The Springfields The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, who was later repla ...

included their version on their 1961 album ''

Kinda Folksy ''Kinda Folksy'' is the debut album by vocal-trio The Springfields. It was directed by Ivor Raymonde. Track listing #"Wimoweh Mambo" (Paul Campbell, Solomon Linda) - 1:55 #" The Black Hills of Dakota" ( Paul Francis Webster, Sammy Fain) - 2:25 ...

''. *The song was also performed by entertainers

Sharon, Lois & Bram Sharon, Lois & Bram (also known as Sharon, Bram & Friends, Sharon & Bram or Sharon & Randi) are a Canadian children's music group founded in Toronto, Ontario, 1978. The group's original lineup consisted of Sharon (née Trostin) Hampson, L ...

for their T.V series

The Elephant Show ''The Elephant Show'' (from the second season onward, ''Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show'') is a Canadian preschool television show. The series premiered on CBC on October 8, 1984, and ended on February 26, 1989, after 65 episodes over five s ...

in 1989 which was also performed in concerts.

References

{{authority control 1949 songs Songs with music by Sammy Fain Songs with lyrics by Bob Hilliard Dinah Shore songs Bing Crosby songs