Stars Fell on Alabama

An unusually active Leonid meteor shower November 12 and 13, 1833 bombarded Earth’s atmosphere with more than 30,000 meteors PER HOUR above Alabama and neighboring states. Those who witnessed the display said it was as if the sky was filled with fireworks. Native Americans saw the meteors as a good sign, but nearly everyone else was convinced they were seeing the end of the world. The event left a powerful impression on the collective consciousness for generations to come. In 1934 Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parrish wrote the jazz standard “Stars Fell on Alabama” which was later recorded by Guy Lombardo and his orchestra. If you know your way around YouTube, you can find covers by Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Buffet, Billie Holiday, Dean Martin, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Kate Smith, Ricky Martin, Mel Torme, and Harry Connick, Jr. You may not be familiar with the title, but I guarantee you’ve heard the song.