“Those Wedding Bells Shall Not Ring Out!”
Description
A couple is about to be married. When the sexton asks if there are any objections, a man cries out, "Those bells shall not ring out"; the bride is his wife! He stabs her, then himself, saying "She's mine till death shall set her free."
Notes
Randolph lists an 1896 London copyright in the name of Charles W. Heid. It seems more likely, however, that the claim by Monroe H. Rosenfeld is correct. Joan Morris writes of him, "Though he was a notorious womanizer and lost most of his money to bookmakers, Rosenfeld never wrote a song without a moral."
For a selection of Rosenfeld's more noteworthy pieces, which eventually start to seem rather like potboilers, see Spaeth, _Read 'Em and Weep_, pp. 181-187.
The original sheet music claims that this is an unamplified portrayal of something that actually happened in "a western city." The exaggerated tone of the song, and the failure to provide details, leave the matter open to question. Spaeth (_A History of Popular Music in America_, p. 232) calls it a "flagrant imitation" of "The Fatal Wedding." - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "The Fatal Wedding" (subject)
Broadsides
- NLScotland, RB.m.143(124), "Those Wedding Bells shall not Ring Out," Poet's Box (Dundee), c. 1880-1900
References
- Randolph 822, "Those Wedding Bells Shall Not Ring Out!" (1 text)
- Spaeth-WeepMore, pp. 231-233, "Those Wedding Bells Shall Not Ring Out!" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Roud #7435
- BI, R822