"When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano" has a rather droll origin, you know. Take yourself back in time to 1938. It's the Depression. Song writer Leon Rene and wife are in the kitchen. There's a dispute and she refuses to make his breakfast. The radio announcer says that today is the day the swallows come back to Capistrano..." And a legend takes place.
In 1970, Rene recounted for the San Diego Union newspaper: "In a sing song voice I said 'When the swallows come back to Capistrano, maybe you will fix me some breakfast.' It made her so mad I retreated to a little studio I had in the garage."
He returned shortly with eight bars of music. His mother-in-law joined in on the refrain on her piano. Rene said, "It got my wife in such a good humor, she fixed me a big breakfast, bacon and eggs with French toast and coffee."
The tune barely survived its infancy. A friend placed it on 400 jukeboxes, but it was rarely played. Then the song was published in New York and jumped to Number 7 then Number 1 on the hit charts of 1939.
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?