THE HIT HAMMER: The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post)

The Dixie Cups - "Chapel of Love"

Hit Number 1: June 6, 1964

Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks

I am 22 years old, and marriage is something that has never once crossed my mind as something I should be looking into anytime soon. If you know me personally, you know I'm a straight up hooligan, I like to have a good time, and the only worries on my mind are if the Braves will win a damn baseball game or my college life. (By the way, your dude is going to be attending Minnesota State this fall!) Anyway, the point I'm trying to make, is that I can't speak from experience what your wedding day actually FEELS like. I would imagine that it's filled of magical feelings and nothing could possibly get in the way of your day. In 1964, a song about marriage was at #1 for 3 weeks, in the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love".

The familiar songwriting duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller started their own record company "Red Bird", and "Chapel of Love" was the first song released from that label that became a hit. The song is a cheery piece of work, that details the excitement of a woman who is about to get married. The song does a tremendous job on setting the mood, with lyrics like "birds all sing as if they knew" and "bells will ring, the sun will shine". This woman is extremely optimistic about the conditions of her wedding day, and it's very clear that she feels all time will stop, and everything will go her way that day. That's exactly the kind of way I would picture that anyone would feel on their wedding day. And the Dixie Cups' voices are like little bursts of sunshine themselves, happily chanting and singing about that magical day. Not to mention, there's some great harmonies! The song acts as one big warm wave, that engulfs the listener and even makes US happy for this fictional woman.

I wouldn't classify this as a masterpiece of a song, but at the same time, I don't understand how anyone could dislike this song. It's not only happy and catchy, but it's one most people can certainly relate to. When that big day comes for me, I hope I feel exactly like the woman in this song does. I'm clearly not with the right person if I don't.

GRADE: 8/10