Today’s classic forgotten folkie love song of the day is “Wedding Song (There is Love)” by Noel Paul Stookey, otherwise known as the “Paul” in Peter, Paul and Mary. Noel wrote this tune for the wedding of bandmate Peter Yarrow to Mary Beth McCarthy (niece of Senator Eugene McCarthy) in 1969 and released it as a single in July of 1971. It reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on Billboard’s Easy Listening Chart. It also became a staple at weddings for a generation or two before falling from the public eye.
“Wedding Song” is just a darned good song. Noel’s recording is just him singing and accompanying himself on 12-string acoustic guitar (tuned a step and a half lower than normal). He claimed that when Peter asked him to sing something at his wedding, he prayed to God and the song just came. Because of this, Mr. Stookey didn’t claim the song for himself (his name doesn’t appear on any writing credits) and he gave all royalties to the Public Domain Foundation, a charity he founded to direct monies to other charitable organizations. To date the Public Domain Foundation has received and distributed more than two million dollars to soup kitchens and other charities.
Brit songstress Petula Clark recorded a cover of “Wedding Song” in 1972, for her Now album. Her single peaked at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 but went to #9 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It also hit #67 in Canada and #10 in Australia, but failed to chart in her native UK.
In 1978, singer Mary MacGregor released another version of “Wedding Song.” Her version only went to #81 on the Billboard Hot 100 but hit #23 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.
All in all, not a bad run for a little ditty that Mr. Stookey put together for a friend. Back in the day, how many times did you hear this one played at friends’ weddings?
[…] classic song of the day, Noel Paul Stookey’s “Wedding Song (There is Love),” was written for a friend’s wedding, and that’s also the case with today’s […]