"Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" 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 ...

folk style ballad. The music was written by

Evelyn Danzig Evelyn Danzig Levine (January 16, 1902 – July 26, 1996) was an American Tin Pan Alley songwriter, who was a one hit wonder best known for co-writing the music for the folk style ballad popular song " Scarlet Ribbons", published in 1949, with lyr ...

and the lyrics by Jack Segal. The song has become a

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

with many recorded versions and has appeared on several

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

Background and lyrics

"Scarlet Ribbons" was written in only 15 minutes in 1949 at Danzig's home in Port Washington, New York after she invited lyricist Segal to hear her music. The song tells a miraculous tale: a father hears his small daughter pray before she goes to bed for "scarlet ribbons for her hair". It is late, no stores are open in their town, nor is there anywhere the dad can obtain the ribbons so he is distraught throughout the night. At dawn he again peeps in and is amazed to see beautiful "scarlet ribbons" in "gay profusion lying there." He says that if he lives to be two hundred, he will never know from where the ribbons came.

Renditions

Jo Stafford

"Scarlet Ribbons" was first released by

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

in 1949. In January 1950, Stafford's version reached No. 14 on '' Billboard''s chart of "Records Most Played by Disc Jockeys".

Harry Belafonte

In 1952

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, at his third session for

RCA 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 A ...

, covered the song with an arrangement using his guitarist Millard Thomas and male vocal group. The four-year-old recording finally became a success in 1956 after it appeared on his second album, which reached No. 1 on ''Billboard''s album chart for six weeks and stayed on the chart for over a year. The song reached No. 18 on the UK's '' New Musical Express'' chart in late 1957.

The Browns

In 1959,

the Browns The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, " The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic ...

released what would become the most successful version of "Scarlet Ribbons" in the US. The Browns' version spent 14 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 13 on January 2, 1960, while reaching No. 7 on ''Billboard''s Hot C&W Sides.

Cliff Richard

In 1991,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

released the song on his Christmas album ''

Together with Cliff Richard ''Together with Cliff Richard'' is a Christmas album by Cliff Richard, released in November 1991. The album features Richard singing popular traditional Christmas songs, his Christmas hits from recent years and two original songs. The album re ...

'', and as a single. The song reached No. 19 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

and No. 51 in Germany.Cliff Richard - Scarlet Ribbons
charts.org.nz. Accessed September 25, 2016.

References

{{Authority control 1949 songs Jo Stafford songs Joan Baez songs The Kingston Trio songs The Browns songs Cliff Richard songs American Christmas songs Glen Campbell songs Songs written by Jack Segal Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins Sinéad O'Connor songs RCA Victor singles