note the spelling Willson ... www.last.fm/music/Meredith+Willson
Born Robert Meredith Reiniger in Mason City, Iowa, Willson attended Damrosch Institute (later The Juilliard School) in New York City. A flute and piccolo player, Willson was a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921 - 1923) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924 - 1929). Willson then moved to San Francisco, California as the concert director for KFRC, and then as a musical director for the NBC radio network in Hollywood.
His work for films included the music for Charlie Chaplin's 1940 film The Great Dictator, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. During World War II, he worked for the United States' Armed Forces Radio Service. His work with the AFRS teamed him with George Burns, Gracie Allen and Bill Goodwin. (He would work with all three as the bandleader, and a regular character, on the Burns and Allen radio program.) Returning to network radio after WWII, he created the Talking People, a choral group which spoke in unison while delivering radio commercials.
Willson's most famous work, The Music Man, premiered on Broadway in 1957 and was adapted twice for film (in 1962 and 2003). He referred to the play as "an Iowan's attempt to pay tribute to his home state." It took Willson some eight years and thirty revisions to complete the musical, for which he wrote more than forty songs. The cast recording of The Music Man won the very first Grammy award ever issued.
His second musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, ran on Broadway for 532 performances from 1960 to 1962 and was made into a 1964 motion picture starring Debbie Reynolds.
His third (and apparently last) musical was an adaptation of the film Miracle On 34th Street, called Here's Love! (1963).
His Symphony No. 1 In F Minor, A Symphony Of San Francisco, and Symphony No. 2 In E Minor, Missions Of California, were recorded in 1999 by William T. Stromberg conducting the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.
Willson penned a number of very well-known songs, such as "Seventy-Six Trombones," "Gary Indiana," "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas," and even "Till There Was You," which was a hit for the Beatles in 1963. He also wrote the University of Iowa's fight song.
In general, it was recognized that Willson wrote surprisingly well-crafted, complex, and subtle music that classical music fans could appreciate, with intricate and sometimes startling counterpoint, well-crafted melody, and subtle orchestration, all while still appealing to mass audiences.
Willson and his wife lived for years in the Mandeville Canyon section of Brentwood, California. In the 1960s, Willson was fondly remembered by friends and neighbors as a warm and gregarious host who loved nothing more than to play the piano and sing at numerous parties. Willson often gave out autographed copies of his record album, Meredith Willson Sings Songs from The Music Man.
'Til There Was You
Meredith Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There were bells
On the hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you
There were birds in the sky
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you
And there was music
And there were wonderful roses they tell me
In sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you
Marian and Harold:
There was love all around
But I never head it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you
The lyrics to "Til There Was You" can be interpreted as a love song that portrays the transformative power of falling in love. The lyrics describe how the singer, Marian, never noticed elements of beauty in her surroundings until she fell in love with her partner, which seemingly opened her eyes to the world around her. She talks about bells ringing on the hill, birds flying in the sky, and music playing all around her- all things she never noticed before. The chorus which is repeated a few times, highlights the idea that love was always there, but until she found the person she was meant to be with (in this case, her partner Harold), she could not hear the music and love that was present.
The lyrics are subtle and are not an explicit expression of love, but rather describe how love has changed Marian's perspective on the world. She describes the beauty of nature and how the love she has found has helped her appreciate it. Even though the lyrics are simple and straightforward, they manage to convey the transformative power of love and the beauty in the world around us when we are in love. The song is emotional, and the words speak to people who have experienced the joy of finding love.
Line by Line Meaning
There were bells
There were bells on the hill, but I never paid attention to them until I met you
On the hill
Refers to the location of the bells
But I never heard them ringing
I was not aware of the beauty and music around me until I met you
No, I never heard them at all
I was not paying attention to the little things in life until I met you
Till there was you
Everything changed with your arrival into my life
There were birds in the sky
The sky was always full of birds, but I never noticed them before you
But I never saw them winging
I did not appreciate the beauty of nature until I met you
And there was music
There was music all around me, but I did not hear it until you came into my life
And there were wonderful roses they tell me
People spoke about the beauty of roses and the sweet fragrant meadows, but I did not truly appreciate them until I met you
In sweet fragrant meadows
Refers to the location of the wonderful roses
Of dawn and dew
Refers to the time of day when the flowers are at their most beautiful
There was love all around
Love was always present in the world, but I did not recognize it until I met you
But I never heard it singing
I was not aware of the love surrounding me until I met you
No, I never heard it at all
I did not recognize the love around me until you came into my life
Marian and Harold:
Refers to the two characters singing the song
There was love all around
Love was always present in the world, but we did not recognize it until we met each other
But I never head it singing
We were not aware of the love surrounding us until we met each other
No, I never heard it at all
We did not recognize the love around us until we found each other
Till there was you
Our love for each other changed everything, and made us see and appreciate the world in a new and beautiful way
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Meredith Wilson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@smtimesitbeliketht8596
There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
'Til there was you
There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
'Til there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you
'Til there was you
@voiceofreason7856
Growing up, my Dad not only had BOTH 'The Music Man' albums
( Original Broadway Cast recording and the movie soundtrack ) but also an album they released called "... and then I wrote 'The Music Man' " with Meredith Wilson and his wife singing the songs around a piano - like it was a pleasant, private party with live entertainment.
I still have it, as part of my late Dad's enormous record collection. :)
@Trombonology
"Till There Was You" is a much stronger title -- changing those two words made all the difference. The elimination of I , which was technically the subject word, places You in the spotlight all by itself. A pleasant enough rendition here. ... I've always considered The Beatles' version to be one of their strongest covers; George Harrison's guitar work is excellent.
@Trombonology
@@beiderbecke1927 Let's face it -- there are loads of idiots out there. What's amazing to me is the questions one encounters in this environment. Google it! -- don't take some fellow poster's word as, dare I say, gospel.
How neat to learn of your work on Music Man ! That had to have been a very fun, if challenging, project.
Yes, nothing wrong with recycling. The Gershwins did a fair bit of that, too.
@swingman5635
The Beatles' is my favorite, as well. My brother and I would sing along to our record,and thought our harmony was brilliant!😆
@TheLAKERSareGodsTeam
Context matters. Sung to a girl, "Til there was you" is precient. In reverse, "Til I Met You" sounds capricious.
@charlesmiller2472
I agree, especially since, IMO, Beatles covers were usually, if not always inferior to the originals, except for Til There Was You, my favorite version of that song. Good thing John & Paul & occasionally George, were such great writers & Beatles such a great band with their own material & producer like George Martin.
@ferdburfle4337
There were birds in the sky but I could not see them shining. No, I could not see them at all, Till I Met Me. There were stars in the sky but I could not hear them singing. No, I could not hear them at all, Till I Met Me. Alternate version
@smtimesitbeliketht8596
There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
'Til there was you
There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
'Til there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you
'Til there was you
@rafaelmoreno4392
Til I MET you
@scaramanzia
till i met you*