The Three Bells

August–September 1959

Next up is "The Three Bells" by vocal trio the Browns, which was #1 for four weeks.

It's based on an earlier French song called "Les trois cloches," made popular by Edith Piaf (whom I only know of through the biopic La vie en rose); as far as I can tell, the meaning of the lyrics is more or less preserved in translation. It's a story song, chronicling the life of a fictional Jimmy Brown (who, curiously, has the same name as the lead singer). In three hushed, gospel-like verses, and three melodic choruses, we follow the path of Jimmy's life as he is born, gets married, and finally dies.

Jimmy Brown is a mythical figure, I suppose. The tone of the song is undeniably reverent – we are meant to be filled with awe when we hear the story of this legendary man. But here's the thing: we don't hear about a single thing he did in his lifetime, other than be born, get married, and die. I feel this has two effects, which are sort of opposite, and you can take your pick. The first thing it does is it increases the mystery of his life – we've got to use our imaginations to know what great things he did with his life. He becomes Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and all the other great American mythical heroes (or, I guess, the French ones).

But here's the other effect: what do being born, getting married, and dying have in common? They are three things that most everyone does in their lives. Jimmy becomes Everyman. So what... he's totally ordinary? So why sing a song about him? Well, I don't think the two interpretations of the song are entirely contradictory, as they might first seem. He's ordinary, yet extraordinary. Don't we all feel this way sometimes? With billions of people in the world, it can be humbling to realize it's pretty damn hard to be special. Of course I can only speak for myself, but I would imagine most everybody feels that they are truly special; extraordinary in some way. We could all be as famous and respected as any of the great figures in history, if we'd just had the right chance at the right time; or if the stars had lined up just a little differently. We could all be Jimmy Brown. But – and this is perhaps the central meaning of the song – we all are Jimmy Brown. For isn't there enough beauty and reward in the simple life described here? It's important to be comfortable with the life you've got, and "The Three Bells" reminds us of that.

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