Thomas 'Tommie' Connor (1904-1993) was a young Bitish songwriter, credited with several hit songs over his long career. Most notable among these was "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" which has been recoreded by many artists, including Jimmy Boyd and The Jackson 5 and is among the top 25 Christmas songs of all-time.
Connor was born and raised in the West End of London to parents of Irish descent. He had five children of his own, born to his wife Catherine McCarthy Connor. Tommie lived in London for most of his life interspersed with a spell in parts of the U.S.A. among which were Los Angeles and New York City. In 1966 his poem was used as the words that accompanied Ennio Morricone's music for "Story of a Soldier".
Story of a Soldier
Music by Ennio Morricone
Lyrics by Tommie Connor
Bugles are calling from prairie to shore
"Sign Up" and Fall In" and march off to war.
Blue grass and cotton, burnt and forgotten
All hope seem gone so soldier march and die.
Bugles are calling from prairie to shore,
"Sign Up" and "Fall In" and march off to war.
There in the distance a flag I can see.
Scorched and in ribbons but whose can it be.
How ends the story, whose is the glory
Aske if we dare, our comrades out there who sleep.
YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrNiFr9G_ko
This is great!What a leap, from Santa to GBU. As always your research is very much appreciated. Cheers Tom.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adrian. It was actually Howard Hughes who turned me on to Connor. We researched the song's lyrics and origins when he wrote his book "Once Upon a Time in the Italian West."
ReplyDelete